
Ciass^X34Q 

Book _.CiYl__. 



PRESENTED BY 



LIFE OF 

GENERAL LEWIS CASS. 

BY WILLIAM T. YOUNG. 



SKETCH 



OF THE 



LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES 



OF 



GENERAL LEWIS CASS. 



WITH THE 



PAMPHLET ON THE RIGHT OF SEARCH, 



AND SOME OF HIS SPEECHES ON THE 



GREAT POLITICAL QUESTIONS OF THE DAL 



BY WILLIAM T. YOUJNG^ 

w 
MICHIGAN. 



SECOND. EtHTIjtfTf. 



•' > , 



DETROIT: 

PUBLISHED BY ALEXANDER MC'fARREN 

1852. 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1851, by 
WILLIAM T. YOUNG, 

In the Clerk's Office for the District of Michigan. 






G, W. PATTISON, Agent, 

COniUIBCIAL BULLETIN PRINTING HOl?SE; ' ' 



Detroit, Michigan, 






TO THE 

PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES 

THE 
FOLLOWING SKETCH OF THE PUBLIC SERVICES 

OF THE SOLDIER THE DIPLOMATIST — THE STATESMAN, 

AND NATIONAL DEMOCRAT, 

IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED. 



PHEFACE. 



A desire to present a fair and impartial history of the 
public career of one of the greatest of American States- 
men, has prompted the compilation of the following pages. 
However great may be the difference of opinion, politically 
regarded, between the reader and the distinguished sub- 
ject of the work, the former cannot but feel a just and 
honorable pride, in the successful career, the command- 
ing position, and the statesmanship of his countryman. 
"Whether he be viewed at the bar, on the battle field, as 
civil governor, in the cabinet, at the foreign court, or in 
the senate, he stands forth a noble monument of the re- 
wards of industry, integrity and patriotism, — a cheering 
example to the young men of the Union, to strive to fol- 
low in his path. 

The WTiter prefers no claim to originality in the produc- 
tion of this work. The history of Lewis Cass is to be 
found in the public records of the country ; the effect of 
his services, in her progressive prosperity at home, and in ^ 



Vni PREFACE. 



her unstained reputation abroad. To collect the scattered 
history of his many and valuable services, has been the 
object most in view. 

The appearance of this book, at this time of political 
excitement, when we are just on the eve of a Presidential 
election, may be considered as stamping the work with 
a partisan character ; but such is not its tenor, or the pur- 
pose of its publication. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

Introductojy Remarks— Birth of Mr. Cass— His Parentage— Education— He emi- 
grates to Ohio — Enters upon the Practice of the Law— His Succpss — Volun- 
teers in Defence of the Frontier— War of 1812— Invasion of Canada— Col. 
Cass' heroic conduct in Canada — Defeats a party of British Soldiers near 
Maiden— Secures an Important Post— Orders of Gen. Hull— Is compelled to 
give up the advantages of his conquest, and return with the army to Detroit. 

Page 17 



CHAPTER H. 

Battle of Brownstown — Battle of Maguaga — Col. Cass volunteers to accompany 
a detachment through the wilderness to the River Raisin — The Surrender 
of Detroit — The detachment ordered to return — Indignation of Cols. Cass and 
McArthur— Their Return to Detroit— Letter of Gov. Meigs— Resolutions of 
General Assemblv of Ohio— Official Letter of Col. Cass to the War Depart- 
ment. ' Page 29 



CHAPTER HT. 

Effect of Surrender of Detroit— Volunteers of 1812— Symms' " Card "—Indian 
Warfare— Cruelties of the Savages— The Massacre at the River Raisin- The 
Defence of Fort Stephenson by Croghan and his brave compeers. Page 33 



CHAPTER IV. 

Reception of Col. Cass at Washington— His promotion— Confidence of the Gov- 
ernment in him— Is apppointed Brigadier General—He joius the army under 
Harrison — Harrison assigns to Gen. Cass the command of the army at its de- 
barkation on the Canada shore— Proctor's flight— Movements of the army in 
Canada— Battle of the Thames—Gen. Cass, with Com. Perry, acting as aids to 
Gen. Harrison— Defeat and flight of Proctor— Is pursued by Gen. Casa— Har- 
rison's testimony to the personal exertions and bravery of Gen. Cass — "^n. 
Cass is left by Harrison in command at Detroit— Is appointed Governor of the 
Territory by President Madison— The responsibility of his Office— His quali- 
fications—The attachment of the Citizens of the Territory— His journey to 
Albany in midwinter. Page d* 



XIIj CONTEiXTS. 

CHAPTER V. 

Colonel Cass as Governor of Michigan Territory — The arduous duties of his 
Office — Examination of Upper Michigan — Is requested by Government to as- 
certain the disposition of tlie Indians in Ohio in regard to disposing of their 
Lands — Is appointed Commissioner — Concludes an important Treaty— Urges 
the construction of a military road through Ohio — Number of Treaties made 
and concluded by Gov. Cass with Indian Tribes — Tour by way of the Lakes to 
the head-waters of the Mississippi — Leaves Detroit in an open boat — Navigates 
the Great Lakes in a canoe — Perils of the Route — Personal exposure of Gov* 
Cass in resenting an insult to his Country's Flag — His determination and the 
successful results of his expedition — Is appointed to negotiate Treaties of 
Peace between hostile Tribes — Accomplishes his purpose — A novel Temper- 
ance Lecture — Treaty at Fond du Lac — Gov. Cass' address to the Pottawato- 
mies and Miamis. Page 78 



CHAPTER VI. 

JOirney to Lake Winnebago — Hostile feeling among the Winnebagoes — Attack 
on the Miners — War Messages — Gov. Cass organizing the Miners for defence- 
Alarm at Fever River — He goes to St. Louis — ,\nxiety at Green Bay for his 
safety — Rumors there of his death— Arrival at Green B oy— Tre aty of Butte de 
Morts — Occurrence at the Treaty — Personal danger at Indian village — Provi- 
dential escape — Removal of Troops, cause of the Indian difficulties — Succes- 
sive appointments of Gov. Cass — His civil administration — His freedom from 
religious intolerance— Tribute to the Catholic Missionaries — Satisfaction of the 
people with his administration — Secret of bis success — His viev\s on appoint- 
ment to office — First Legislative Council of the Territory — Gov. Cass calls 
attention to the existence of Copper oa the upper Peninsula — Removal of the 
New York Indians— Visits of the Indians to the British post at Maiden — He 
attempts to prevent them.] Page 93 



CHAPTER VH. 

Message to the Legislative Council of 182G — Boundary line between Michigan 
and Ohio — Constitutional Convention — Action of Congress in defining bounda- 
ry as a condition of admission of Michigan into the Union — .Vction of the two 
Conventions — Final admission— Democratic tone of Gov. Cass' messages. 

Page 108 



CHAPTER VHI. 

Gov. Cass is called by Gen. Jackson to the Head of the War Department — Mo - 
lives prompting the selection of Gov. Cass — The popularity of the New Cabi- 
net — Proceedings of the citizens of Detroit on the departure of Gov. Cass for 
Washington — Address of Major Biddle in behalf of the people of Michigan — 
Reply of Gov. Cass — He assumes the duties of the Department — His Indian 
policy while Secretary — Black Hawk war — His preparations to bring the con- 
test to a speedy close — Reforms introduced by Gov. Cass In his Department — 
Their popularity — The Indian difficultiss in Georgia — Decision of the Supreme 
Court of the United States reviewed by Gov. Cass — His position sustained by 
the people and adopted by the President— Defences of the Country — Gov. 
Cass' views on the subject — Controversy between the Bank of United States 
and the Administration— Nullification — Action of the Administration. 

Page 115 



CONTENTS. XII 1 

CHAPTER IX. 

Gov. Cass accepts the embassy to France — He departs on his mission — His vigi- 
lance in guarding the rights of his conntry — He thwarts the attem pt of the 
English Ministry to obtain universal dominion on the high seas — -His examina- 
tion of the question of the Right of Search — His Protest laid before th e French 
Ministry — Subsequent proceedings. ' Page 133 



CHAPTER X. 

Effect of the protest upon the action of the French government, respecting the 
Quintuple Treaty-The Ashburton Treaty-Proceedings of Gov. Cass, on receiv- 
ing copy of treaty — His correspondence with Mr. Webster; Secretary of State. 

Page 171 



CHAPTER XI. 

Gov. Cass' opportunities for acquiring knowledge of the schemes of diploma- 
tists — His success in thwarting their plots against the welfare of his country — 
His return to tiie United States — The reception given to him by the people of 
Boston — Letter from Gen. Jackson — The welcome extended to him by the cit- 
izens of the towns and villages through which he passed on his journey to De- 
troit — His letter to the Committee of the Democratic Convention of Indiana — 
Gen. Cass regarded by the people as a Candidate for the Presidency — Publie 
opinion, The annexation of Texas — Geni Cass' letter advocating annexation, 
The Baltimore Convention of 1844— Govi Cass' letter read in that Conven- 
tion — His name withdrawn for the sake of union and harmony — Nomination of 
James K. Polk — Gov. Cass supports the nomination — Meets his fellow citizens 
in various parts of the country and advocates the election of Mr. Polk — Great 
Democratic victory. Page 209 



CHAPTER XII. 

Magnitude of questions before Congress — Interest felt throughout the Union, in 
the election of Senators — The sentiment of the people, in regard to Gen. Cass' 
election to the Senate — His election by the Legislature of Michigan — His first 
act in the Senate, evinces his keen watchfulness over the rights and honor of 
his country — Resolutions of Senator Allen — Gen. Cass supports them — His re- 
marks thereon — The Oregon question — The great interests involved in its set- 
tlement — The recommendations of the President — Resolution of Mr. Allen, 
giving notice that convention of 1827, between the United States and Great 
Britain, be annulled and abrog-ated — Speech of Gen. Cass, in regard to our 
defences — His remarks thereon. Page 226 



CHAPTER XHI. 

The Slavery question — Position of Gen. Cass — The Wilmot Proviso and Mexican 
War — Remarks of Gen. Cass in the Senate, February 10th, 1847, on the appro- 
priation of three millions to bring the war with Mexico to a close — His remarks 
on voting against the adoption of the Wilmot Proviso — Gen. Cass' letter to 
A. O. P. Nicholson, of Tennessee — His desire for a vigorous prosecution of the 
war — Tribute of praise to the Army in Mexico — Origin of the war. 

Page 302 



XIV CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Appropriations for Improvement of Rivers and Harbors — Difficulties surround- 
ing the (juestion of the right of Congress to make such appropriations — Gen. 
Cass' opinions on that subject — He sustains the position of Gen. Jackson — 
Proceedings in the Senate — llemarlis and V'ote of Gen. Cass — Further remarks 
— Chicago Convention — Its object — Foresight of Gen. Cass in anticipating the 
results of that Convention — His letter declining an invitation to attend it — Un- 
just and unfounded inferences drawn from the letter — Gen. Cass' exposition of 
his views on the Constitutional right of Congress to make Appropriations for 
the Improvement of Rivers and Harbors, delivered in the Senate, March, 1851. 

Page 334. 



CHAPTER XV. 

Gen. Cass' sympathy for the patriots of the old world — His readiness to welcome 
them to the United States — His participation with the Citizens of Washington, 
in expressing their congratulations at the success of the people of France in the 
late Revolution — Extract from his remarks on that occasion — His vote in the 
Senate on the resolution of congratulation — His resolution to suspend diplom- 
atic intercourse with Austria — His remarks on the Bill offering aid to Ireland — 
His vote on the Bill — He supports the Bill authorizing the temporary occupa- 
tion of Yucatan. Page 349 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Course of General Cass in the Senate meets with approval from the people — Con 
vention at Baltimore in 1818 — Hunkers and Barnburners — Votes in Convention. 
— Gen. Cass nominated for the Presidency — Remarks of Mr. Stevenson Presi- 
dent of the Convention — Gen. Cass' letter of acceptance— rBaitimore Resolu- 
tions — Gen. Cass resigns his seat in the Senate — His reception by the people, 
on his route home — Campaign of 1848- -Position of Mr. Van Buren — The Utica 
Convention — Buffalo Convention — Bitterness of the opponents of the democra- 
tic party against Gen. Cass — t'haracteristics of the contest — Confidence of the 
democratic party in their candidates. Page 356 



CHAPTER XVH. 



Effects of defeat in 1848 — Increased confidence of the people in the political 
views of Gen, Cass — He is re-elected to the Senate — First session of the thirty- 
first Congress — Importance of the questions before it — Tlie feeling of the south 

Course of ultra politicians — Efforts of Compromise — Propositions of Messrs. 

Clay and Boll — Mr. Foote's Resolution — Gen. Cass' remarks — Remarks in re- 
ply to Mr. Berrien — Report and Bill of committee of thirteen — Amendments to 
the bill — Opposition to the admission of California — Remarks of (Jen. Cass — 
The " Fugitive Slave " bill — Suggestions of Gen. Cass in relation to it — Com- 
promise measures — Their effects — Efforts of Gen. Cass and other eminent men 
to create a sound state of feeling in regard to slavery — His remarks at a public 
meeting in the city of New York — Extract from his letter to the Democratic 
Union festival, at Baltimore — His action on the slavery question approved by 
the people — Repeal of Resolutions of Instruction by the Legislature of Michi- 
igan — Unanimous re-election of Gen. Cass bv the Legislature of Michigan, ia 
February, 1851. ' Page 370 



CONTENTS. XV 

CHAPTER XVIIL 

Gen. Cass' acquirements and literary standing— His power as a writer— His com- 
mand of language— Contributions to the Reviews— His sketches of Indian 
character — His exposure of the frauds and inaccuracies of certain writers of In- 
dian History— His account of the battle of JNew Orleans— His travels in the 
East— Extract from North American Review— His addresses on several occa- 
sions—Extract — Extracts from his address before the New England Society of 
Michigan — -'France, its King, Court and Government — Extract from address 
before the Agricultural Society of Michigan— His personal appearance, 'fee- 
Conclusion. Page 410 



LIFE 



OF 



GENERAL LEWIS CASS. 



CHAPTER I. 

Introductory Remarks — Birth of Mr. Cass — His Parentage — Education — He emi- 
grates to Ohio — Enters upon the Practice of the Law— His Success — Volun- 
teers in Defence of the Frontier — War of 1312 — Invasion of Canada — Col. 
Cass' heroic conduct in Canada — Defeats a party of British Soldiers ne ar 
Maiden — Secures an Important Post — Orders of Gen. Hull — Is compelled to 
give up the advantages of his conquest, and return virith the army to Detroi(. 

The record of the deeds of an individual, who by his own per- 
sonal effort, the energy of his spirit and the force of his talents, 
has raised himself to a conspicuous and prominent position among 
his countrymen, is the best incentive that the young men of our 
country can have placed before them. The following is a biogra- 
phy of one, who, of himself, has risen from the station of the hum- 
blest citizen, to that of the first statesman of his country, scarcely 
less known and celebrated among the Great Powers of Europe, 
than in his own country, and wherever known, commanding atten- 
tion, esteem and respect. 

The pages which follow, are but a brief and unpretending nar- 
rative of the most marked events in the life of Lewis Cass, and 
as such, the reader will please receive them. 

Lewis Cass was born at Exeter, in New Hampshire, on the 9th 
of October, 17S2. His father, Jonathan Cass was a practical me- 
chanic, and at the commencement of the Revolutionary war was 
industriously pursuing his occupation in a quiet village of New 
England. But the first shot which proclaimed hostilities between 
the mother country and the colonies, awakened his patriotism, and 
arranging his private affairs as speedily as possible, he joined the 



18 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

army of patriots on the d;^ after the battle of Lexington and 
served under Gen. Washington in the most memorable contests of 
the war. He and his brother Daniel fought side by side at Bun- 
ker Hill, one being a sergeant and the other a corporal in the ar- 
my. Jonathan Cass was at Monmouth, Trenton, Princeton, Ger- 
mantown and Saratoga. His services were rewarded with a Ma- 
jor's commission in Wayne's army, whose scene of operation was 
to be in the defence of the western portion of the Union. To 
that region he removed from his New England home, and when 
further labors in his country's service were no longer required, he 
settled down to pass the remaining years of his life upon land ac- 
quired by his own bravery, on the Muskingum river, in Ohio ; 
where he lived for many years and died respected by all, having 
been permitted to witness the rising greatness of his son Lewis, 
who at the time of his father's death had been for thirteen years 
Governor of the Territory of Michigan. 

The foundation of Lewis Cass' education was laid at the Exeter 
Academy, where he received a classical education of a high order. 
Distinguished in his school-boy days for his ardent desire for learn- 
ing, he applied himself studiously to the acquirement of knowledge, 
and in a short time was competent to take charge of an academic 
institution at Wilmington, in Delaware. He remained at the head 
of the Wilmington academy until he determined to accomplish 
what had for some time been his wish — to make his home in the 
Great West, where he might grow up with that region of country 
about which he had obtained information which satisfied him that 
at no distant time, it would form a very important portion of the 
American Union. 

Accordingly, we find him, at the age of seventeen, in the year 
1799, crossing the Alleghanies on foot, carrying his knapsack and 
seeking, unaided, and without the help of wealth or power, a new 
home in the wilderness of Ohio. His steps were directed to Ma- 
rietta, a small settlement at the mouth of the Muskingum. Here 
he commenced the study of law, and entered upon its practice. 
At the bar he acquired a reputation which placed him among the 
eminent lawyers of the west. In the pursuit of his profession he 
was subjected to all the inconveniences and hardships of the wil- 
derness, being often required to travel on an Indian trail through 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 19 

dense forests to the places where the courts were held, which in 
those days were wherever the exigency of the moment fixed them. 
He was often called to try his powers in opposition to men of es- 
tablished fame in the courts of the state, and the success which is 
said to have attended his efforts proves that he wa? able to cope 
with the able and eloquent lawyers who were then regarded as the 
leaders of the profession in the Northwest. His fame as a lawyer 
spread through the country, and the unfortunate pioneer who be- 
came entangled in the meshes of the law, looked upon his release 
as certain, if he could secure the advocacy of Lewis Cass. In the 
case of impeachment of Judge Brown, one of the presiding Cir- 
cuit Judges in 1812, Mr. Cass was employed by the Judge to de- 
fend him on his trial before the Senate of Ohio. The state had 
engaged the celebrated Henry Baldwin, of Pittsburgh, to prosecute 
the articles of impeachment. The novelty of the case — the stand- 
inor and character of all concerned — accusers, court, accused and 
counsel, created great interest in the trial, and attracted a large 
concourse of people at the capitol, to hear the proceedings. Bald- 
win was a man. of great powers, and when he closed his speech 
against the accused, the friends of the latter feared that his elo- 
quence and argument had closed the door of hope upon the Judge 
and secured his conviction. But the young advocate for the de- 
fendant rose amid the stillness and breathless anxiety of the mass 
of human beings who filled the capitol, and in a speech of tremen 
dous power, in which he seemed to concentrate his whole being, 
swept away the apparently immoveable barrier raised by the elo- 
quent Baldwin against the acquittal of the defendant, and secured 
the victory for his client. 

At the age of twenty-five, Lewis Cass was elected to the Legis- 
lature of Ohio, then just admitted as a State. Here he was not 
less conspicuous for his powers both as a speaker and writer, than 
for the readness of perception which characterized his compre- 
hension of subjects brought to his notice. He was placed at the 
head of important committees, and though the youngest member 
of the House of Representatives, he was unanimously regarded as 
the leader of his party. The defection and exposure of the con- 
spiracy of Aaron Burr, brought the young legislator into more 



20 LiiFE of GENERAL CASS. 

conspicuous notice, and made his name and patriotism objects of 
national interest. Oliio was then, in 1806, the scene of Aaron 
Burr's incipient operations, where he attempted to raise men and 
means for his expedition. His progress was arrested by the 
prompt and decisive action of Mr. Cass, who drew up the law 
which put an end to Burr's designs. The Legislature of Ohio for- 
warded to President Jefferson an address on the occasion, written 
by Mr. Cass, which is replete with the noblest sentnnents that can 
animate the bosom of an American citizen, setting forth with the 
eloquence of a true heart, the inestimable advantages of Union — 
the safety which exists only in a reliance upon the patriotism of 
the people, and their capacity to preserve inviolate the sacred con- 
tract which binds the States together in the Federal Union. This 
decisive and energetic act of Mr. Cass was pronounced by Mr. 
Jefferson to be the frst Moio given to the dangerous and treasona- 
ble schemes of the gifted but disappointed politician who sought 
to revenge his fancied wrongs, by subverting the good order and 
government of the people who had honored him, not, it is true, 
to the extent of his ambition, by bestowing upon him the second 
office of the Republic. 

In March, 1807, President Jefferson appointed Mr. Cass, Mar- 
shal of Ohio. In the performance of the duties of this most re- 
sponsible office, he was engaged until hostilities of the Indians 
rendered it necessary to take up arms in defence of the inhabitants 
on the frontier. In the latter part of the year 1811, the Indians 
instigated by the British officers at Maiden, in Canada, to attempt 
to recover the lands they had ceded to the Americans by treaty, 
attacked the American camp on the Wabash. This aroused the 
patriotic inhabitants of Kentucky and Ohio, and they voluntered 
to march to the defence of the frontier. Mr. Cass was among the 
foremost who reached Dayton, the place of rendezvous. Here he 
was by acclamation elected Colonel of the third regiment of Ohio 
volunteers. 

Other influences, however, were at work, which afforded a more 
extended field of action for the ardent soldier who had so eagerly 
enrolled his name among the defenders of his country. 

In the early part of the year 1812, it was anticipated that the 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS, 21 

peaceful relations existing between the United States and England 
would soon be terminated by a declaration of war, forced by the 
repeated and continued aggressions of the latter. 

Acting upon the preservative principle, " in peace prepare for 
war," Congress adopted measures for the increase of the army. 
As it was probable, in the event of war, that the frontiers border- 
ing upon the British Provinces, would be the principal tlieatre of 
hostilities on land, the attention of government was directed to 
their protection. A call was made upon the Governor of Ohio for 
a draft of militia and volunteers, for the service of the United States. 
Col. Kingsbury, of the 1st regiment, U. S. Infantry, was designa- 
ted as the commander of the force, and was ordered to Washing- 
ton to receive his instructions. Sickness, at that place, prevented 
him assuming his post, and General William Hull — who had ac- 
quired a high reputation in the revolutionary army, and who was 
then at Washington — was appointed a Brigadier General, and was 
assigned to the command of the north-western army. Gen. Hull 
was, at that time, civil Governor of the territory of Michigan. It 
was with some reluctance that he accepted the military command. 
This was in April 1812. The military force was raised for a dou- 
ble object : to act against the British in Canada, if there should be 
war, and to suppress hostilities from the Indians in the Territory 
of Michigan. 

The Militia of Ohio, under the order of Gov. Meigs, were, in a 
very short time, prepared to march. They rendezvoused at Day- 
ton, to the number of 1200, and, marching from there to Urbana, 
were joined by 300 men of the 4th United States Regiment. The 
third regiment of Ohio militia and volunteers, was commanded by 
Col. Lewis Cass. Early in June, the army left Urbana for Detroit, 
distance more than 200 miles. Previous to commencing their march 
Col. Cass addressed his fellow soldiers, urging upon them the ne- 
cessity of performing their duty to their country, and setting forth 
in glowing colors the honor and fame to be acquired by a success- 
ful campaign. The way led through a wilderness requiring the 
openmg of roads and the construction of bridges and causeways. 
The soldiers were zealous in the cause which they had espoused, 
and bore the labors and fatigues of the march with heroism and 
patience. For the protection of the country, and the use and con- 



22 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

venience of the army, they erected a number of block houses on 
the route. These were of great service to the invalids of the army, 
some of whom were worn down by the great and arduous difficul- 
ties of the march. 

While the army was on the march to Detroit, there were, ne- 
cessarily, but few opportunities for drilling the soldiers. Indeed 
there appears to have been culpable inattention to that important 
part of military education. But it is mentioned, by those who 
were the companions of Col. Cass, that he availed himself of every 
opportunity of drilling his regiment and accustoming them to move- 
ments and evolutions, upon the proper execution of which, battles 
have been often won. When the army halted for any length of 
time, after they were sufficiently recruited. Col. Cass would have 
his regiment on parade. The men thought the more of him for 
the interest he showed for their instruction. It would have been 
diffi^rent, had he merely been content with issuing his orders, and 
entrusted their performance to his subalterns. That he did not 
do. He was on the ground himself; on the very spot where he 
should be. He required nothing of his soldiers, which he was not 
willinor to do himself. Seeing him thus zealous in the cause in 
which he had embarked, the soldiers could not help being influ- 
enced by his example. A laudable emulation for excellence in 
martial acquirements thus became infused throughout his regi- 
ment, and with that spirit grew an attachment to their leader, which 
was attended with the happiest results. Kind, yet strict, he was 
loved and respected by all under his command. He had been cho- 
sen, by acclamation, to lead them, and they were willing to obey 
his orders, and follow him to the cannon's mouth. There was not 
between him, and the obscure volunteer in the ranks, that broad 
and deep abyss, over which neither could pass, and throw aside 
the strict etiquette of military distinctions. He could sit beside 
the sick or wounded soldier, and administer to the wants of the 
unfortunate, without feeling himself humiliated by the act, or his 
rank degraded by the humanity, which was moved by the suffer- 
ings of the private soldier. He could talk with him as man to 
man, of the -common occurrences of the day, without lessening his 
influence, or hazarding obedience to his orders. Nor did l^e con- 
sider it unbecoming his station as an officer, to dismount from his 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 



23 



horse and march on foot at the head of his regiment, while the 
wearied soldier, sinking with fatigue or illness, was placed upon 
the seat his commander vacated. Such acts as these endeared him 
to his men, and made him the most popular and esteemed, and best 
obeyed officer in the army. When the army reached the forks of 
the Miami, Gen. Hull chartered a small vessel to transport to De- 
troit the heavy baggage and such of the sick as required rest and 
an easier'mode of travel. This vessel was captured by an armed 
force, at the mouth of the Detroit river, sent from the British fort 
at Maiden. War had been declared by the United States while 
Hull and his army were in the woods, and information had reach- 
ed the enemy's post at Maiden, before it was known to Gen. Hull 
or any of his officers. Gen. Hull had previously received a com- 
munication, bearing date on the ISth of June, the day that war 
was declared, directing him to proceed to Detroit with all possible 
expedition. It was probably written previous to and just on the 
eve of the formal act, declaring hostilities to exist. On the 2d day 
of July, he received notice from the Secretary of War, that war 
had been declared. This communication, also, bore date on the 
18th of June, but, by some means never ascertained or accounted 
for, it was fourteen days on its route, and did (not reach him until 
five days after the event was communicated to the officers at Mai- 
den, and not until the day after the vessel had sailed from the Mi- 
ami, with the invalids and baggage. 

The route to Detroit passed along the margin of the Detroit 
river, and through an Indian village, nearly opposite the British 
fort. War existing, it was supposed that our soldiers would be at- 
tacked and annoyed by detachments from that garrison. But such 
was not the case : the army continued its march and arrived at 
Detroit on the 5th of July, where it remained until the 12th of 
July, when it crossed the river into Canada. It was supposed that 
Gen. Hull would proceed at once and capture Maiden. His officers 
and men were alive for the expedition. It was, to the extreme of 
.military propriety, urged upon the commanding General by his as- 
sociates and subordinates in command; but these suggestions had 
no effect other than to cause him to make preparations, ostensibly 
for the attack on Maiden. Col. Cass, who had recently been at 
Maiden, was satisfied that the fort there was not defensible against 
f 



24 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

a well directed and vigorous attack from our army. He was ar- 
dently desirous that the army should march forthwith to that point. 
In this he was not alone; other officers as well as thj men, were 
solicitous for the expedition. They considered it a part of the du- 
ty they had come there to perform, and did not understand why 
they were held back. Gen. Hull himself, could not be otherwise 
than convinced that the possession of Maiden, would be holding 
the key of the whole campaign ; for, in one of his letters to the 
Sec. of War, he says : that possessing Maiden, he could march his 
army through Canada, to York or Niagara, in a very short time. 
Nothing could have been easier than to have taken the place. 
When the army crossed over, according to Gen. Hull's official re- 
port of the affair, one hundred British regulars, six hundred mili- 
tia, and seven or eight hundred Indians, fled at his approach from 
Sandwich to Maiden. The crossing was effected on the night of 
the 11th, from the point known as Bloody Bridge, a mile above the 
town. The movement was admirably performed, and was pronoun- 
ced by the General to be honorable to the officers and men. In 
less than five minutes after the first boat struck the shore, the whole 
regiment was formed. Col. Cass was the first man of the army to 
step foot on the enemy's shore. Many of his companions were 
emulous of being the first to lead the way, but the honor of so do- 
ing was achieved by the gallant Colonel. Upon the landing of the 
army, Gen. Hull issued his proclamation lo the inhabitants of Can- 
ada, promising them protection if they would join his standard. 
Numbers of them did so, and of those who did not, many returned 
to their homes. The day after the crossing, entrenchments were 
thrown up around the encampment and pickets erected on the bank 
side of it. Here the army remained, mostly in a state of inactiv- 
ity, in expectation of being moved to Maiden. In regard to the 
siege of that place, consultations were held almost daily among 
the officers, called together by Gen. Hull. A majority were always 
of opinion that no delay should occur in regard to it. Gen. Hull 
was unwilling to proceed without a number of heavy guns, which 
unfortunately were out of repair, requiring to be mounted. Unu- 
sual delay attended the preparation of the artillery. The General 
himself seeined unable to say when they would be ready. In the 
mean time, news arrived of the surrender of Mackinac. Some 





LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 25 

days after, Gen. Hull convened a counsel of officers, to consider 
whether it would be better to wait a few days longer, for the heavy 
guns, or proceed without them to Maiden. It was apprehended 
that there would be difficulty in getting the guns over the river aux 
Canards, which lay between the army and Maiden. Time was 
consumed in forming plans and making preparations for the attack. 
Nothing was done, and after remaining nearly a month in the ene- 
my's country, Geii. Hull on the eighth of August in despite of the 
earnest entreaties of his officers, and to their great mortification, 
and the disappointment of the men, ordered the army to retreat, 
by recrossing the river to Detroit, which it did. The men were 
dispirited by this abandonment of the advantage they had so labo- 
riously gained. The officers were disgusted with the indecisive, 
wavering conduct of the commanding general, though they were 
obedient to his orders, yet some of them refused to participate any 
further in his counsels, and declined expressing any opinion as to 
the movements of the army. 

Although Gen. Hull did not engage with his main army in any 
offensive operations while he remained in Canada, yet some of his 
officers, unwilling to pass the time in total inactivity, obtained from 
him permission to reconnoitre the country, and obtain such know- 
ledge of the condition of things, as might be of benefit, when the 
army should move against Maiden. For this purpose Col. Cass, 
on the I7th of August, led a detachment towards Maiden, to exam- 
ine the enemy's advanced posts. He found them in possession of 
a bridge at the river Aux Canards, about four miles east of the 
fort. Col. Cass stationed a company of riflemen near the bridge 
on the east side of the river and then proceeded with the rest of 
his troops to cross the river at a ford five miles above, the only 
crossing that was known. He succeeded in reaching the opposite 
side of the river and marching along the easterly bank of the riv- 
er arrived about sunset in sight of the bridge. A nearer ap- 
proach to the enemy at this point was prevented by an impassable 
creek. Col. Cass moved along the bank of the creek, in search 
of a fordable spot, and found one about a mile distant from the 
spot where he was intercepted. The enemy had seen the detach- 
ment during this last movement, and had time to make arrange- 
ments for defence. By the time Col. Cass had crossed the creek 



26 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

and arrived within point of attack, they were formed in line and 
commenced a fire upon him. He led his foree directly against 
them and drove them from the bridge at the first onset. After re- 
treating, they formed again and he again threw them into confusion. 
They were re-inforced from the fort, and as often as they formed 
for defence, Col. Cass broke their ranks, and forced them to re- 
treat. He pursued them until it became so dark that pursuit was 
relinquished. A number of the enemy were killed and some pris- 
oners taken. The whole affair was conducted with bravery and 
skill ; the daring and courage of the officers were nobly seconded 
by the alacrity and readiness of the men. A verbal message was 
sent to Gen. Hull notifying him of the important advantage ob- 
tained by Col. Cass, stating that the possession of tlie bridge 
opened the way tor our army to subdue Maiden. Gen. Hull did 
not agree with Col. Cass as to the expediency of retaining occu- 
pation of the bridge, but peremptorily ordered him to return to 
camp. Reluctant to abandon, without further effort, the immense 
military benefit which he had obtained, Col. Cass and his officers 
remonstrated with Gen. Hull in a written communication. But 
that officer would not yield his opinion or retract from his position, 
blindly ass med. He was, however, so far impressed by the ob- 
vious truths of the arguments of his officers, as to refer the subject 
to the discretion of Col. Cass and the officers with him, still ex- 
pressing his disinclination to keep possession of the bridge, be- 
cause tlie cannon wanted for the anticipated attack upon Maiden, 
were not ready for transportation. Col. Cass and his associates 
thus placed in a novel position by the indecision of the command- 
ing general, held a council, as to what course should be adopted. 
The council regarding the question as one of military discipline, 
by a majority resolved to abandon the bridge. Col. Cass did not 
accede to this decision, but with Capt. Snelling insisted upon re- 
maining there. Finding themselves in a minority on this point 
they were obliged to yield, and the detachment in accordance with 
the orders of Gen. Hull returned to his head quarters. 

Knowledge, afterwards obtained, established, beyond doubt, the 
correctness of the views of those officers who urged an immediate 
assault upon the British works at Maiden. During the visit of 
Col. Cass, with the flag of truce, at that place, before the army 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 27 

moved into Canada, its indefensible condition was apparent. Hence 
his earnest entreaties, and unwavering desire for its capture. From 
the enemy's own statements, it appears that they did not believe 
the place could be defended against the vigorous attack of a de- 
termined enemy, and the commanding officer had determined to 
risk the fate of a great battle, rather than the hazard of a siege- 
With the exception of the powder magazine, the works were prin- 
cipally of wood, covered with thin pine shingles, and could not 
have home the weight of shells and shot which would have been 
poured upon them. 

The defeat of the enemy at Aux Canards, and the capture of the 
bridge, created the utmost consternation at Maiden. Preparations 
were made for abandoning it ; but when it was ascertained that 
the American General did not intend to complete what Col. Cass 
had so successfully commenced, all fears were dispelled — the citi- 
zens and soldiers increased the defence of the town, and waited 
re-inforcements. The first fatal and unfortunate step was bnt the 
precursor of other fatalities which were in store for our noble- 
hearted volunteers, who only wanted opportunity and permission 
to hew their enemies down before them. 

To Col. Cass belongs the honor, not only of being the first man 
to invade the enemy's territory, but also of having opened the 
campaign with a victory. 

The return of the detachment from Aux Canards, together with 
that of Col. McArthur who had been patrollng the country in the 
direction of the river Thames— instead of infusing courage and 
activity into the movements of the commanding general, seemed to 
increase his desire to get back to Detroit with as much expedition 
as he could. Having called a council, he announced his purpose 
to abandon the country and retreat across the river. Although a 
majority of the council decided upon remaining and waiting until 
the ordnance should be got ready for the attack on Maiden — yet 
Gen. Hull ordered his own opinion to be carried into effect, decla- 
ring that, even though every person should oppose him, he was 
responsible, and would act agreeably to his own judgment. Du- 
ring the stay of the army in Canada, councils were called every 
day, and the General was urged to move down on the Aux Ca- 
nards, or proceed at once to Maiden. From these repeated ex- 



28 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

pressions on the part of his associates, he could not be mistaken 
as to their wishes or the inclination of the whole army. General 
Hull, from time to time, yielded to the acjvice of his associates, so 
far to remain where he was, and make preparations ostensibly 
for the wished for attack on the British fort. But news having ar- 
rived of the fall of Mackinac, apprehensions of a descent by the 
great number of Indians supposed to have been on the upper lakes, 
caused the General to suspend further operations in the enemy's 
country, except to erect a picket fort, in which he would leave a 
small detachment, while he would return to Detroit with the main 
army. The gallant Col. McArthur, whom Gen. Hull proposed to 
leave in command of this picket, was so indignant at the obvious 
falsity of the proposition, that he could not refrain from telling his 
commander, that, though he considered it a hardship that his re- 
giment should be so sacrificed, yet, if such were his orders, he 
would obey, — and that while the result must inevitably bring defeat 
and disgrace upon the oflicers and soldiers left there, it might serve 
to avert a portion of the General's own disgrace for recrossing the 
river. The energetic manner of Col. McArthur, temporarily 
aroused the drooping spirits of the commander, and he issued or- 
ders to prepare for the advance upon Maiden. This order was re- 
ceived by all with the utmost pleasure, and a confident expectation 
spread among the soldiers that the commanding General would 
himself lead them to the storming of the place. 

Preparations for the march were continued until the middle of 
the day following the issuing of the orders, when Gen. Hull again 
changed his mind, and calling his officers together, told them that, 
notwithstanding the respect he entertained for their opinions, he 
considered himself responsible for the movements and fate of the 
army, and had come to the determination to recross the river, for 
the protection of the fort and town of Detroit. The order was gi- 
ven, and the army, dispirited and dejected, re-crossed and took 
post at the back of the town. 



CHAPTER II. 

Battle of Brownslown — Battle of Maguaga — Col. Cass volunteers to accompany 
a detachment through the wilderness to the River Raisin — The Surrender 
of Detroit — The detachment ordered to return — Indignation of Cols. Cass and 
McArthur — Their Return lo Detroit — Letter of Gov. Meigs — Resolutions of 
General Assembly of Ohio— Official Letter of Col. Cass to the War Depart- 
ment. 

While Gen. Hull was in Canada, he receiv^ed information, that 
a company of Ohio militia, under the command of Capt. Brush, 
had reached the River Raisin, having in charge a number of beef 
cattle, which they were driving to the garrison at Detroit, and fear- 
ing an attack from the Indians and British at Maiden, were wait- 
ing for a reinforcement from head quarters. It was reported that 
a body of savages had been sent across the Detroit river from Mai- 
den, the British post at the mouth of the river, to intercept and cut 
off. the escort on its march to Detroit. Major Van Home, of Col. 
Findlay's regiment, was therefore ordered to take a detachment of 
one hundred and fifty riflemen, and some militia, who had remain- 
ed at Detroit, and proceed with them, by a back route, to the Rai- 
sin, to meet and aid the escort of Capt. Brush. 

Van Home crossed the river from Canada on the night of the 
4th of August, 1812, with his riflemen. At Detroit he collected 
fifty militia men, and commenced his march. He proceeded a few 
miles beyond the river Ecorce, where he halted, and while the de- 
tachment was at rest, he went among the inhabitants to get infor- 
mation about the back route, which his instructions directed him 
to take, in order to avoid the hazard of an ambuscade on the route 
through the village of Brownstown. There was no back route 
known to any of the people living in the vicinity ; to his inquiries 
they declared that they never heard of any. Nor could he procure 
guides to conduct him through the woods. The inhabitants repre- 
sented the country to be one vast and continuous swamp, and that 
it would be impossible for the soldiers to get through to the Raisin 



30 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

by that way. In consequence of not being able to find any back 
route or procure guides, Major Van Home was compelled to take 
the road through Brownstown. When the detachment arrived near 
Brownstown creek, and was marching through a small space of 
open ground, it was fired upon by a body of Indians from the 
woods. No enemy was seen, but most terrific yells were heard in 
the direction of the attack. Major Van Home ordered his men to 
retire to the edge of the woods and form a line. The troops re- 
treated, firing as they went. Having returned about a quarter of 
a mile, a line was formed, and a fire commenced upon the Indians. 
The soldiers did not retreat in good order, and became greatly dis- 
persed. In the skirmish, eighteen were killed, twelve wounded; 
and about seventy were missing, who fortunately reached Detroit 
in safety. Major Van Home returned with his detachment to De- 
troit. 

On the 8th of August, the same day the army re-crossed from 
Canada to Detroit, another attempt was made to open a communi- 
cation between Detroit and the Ohio militia at the Raisin. For 
this purpose Col. James Miller, who commanded the fourth regi- 
ment of United States infantry in Gen Hull's army, was detached 
on the evening of the 8th of August, with six hundred men, reg- 
ulars and volunteers, with orders to join the escort at the Raisin, 
and march it to Detroit. While on the march, on the afternoon 
of the ninth. Captain Snelling, who commanded the advance guard, 
came upon a large body of British and Indians, near Maguaga, 
drawn up in regular order of battle, protected by a thicket of un- 
der-brush, and a breastwork of logs which they had erected. Capt. 
Snelling was some distance in advance of the detachment, and 
bravely fought against the severe and murderous attack of the 
enemy, until Col. Miller came up with the rest of the force. The 
soldiers were immediately formed into line for attack. Col. Miller 
had one field piece, and a howitzer. He marched his troops to 
within a short distance of the enemy, fired, and then charged upon 
them with the bayonet. The contest was honerable to the Ameri- 
can force — particularly to the Michigan and Ohio volunteers, who 
formed most of the detachment. The British and Indians retreat- 
ed towards Browntown, and succeeded in crossing the river to 
Maiden. Col. Miller pursued them until night-fall, when darkness 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 



31 



and the laborious service his soldiers had performed, compelled 
him to discontinue the pursuit. Tn this engagement the force of 
the enemy consisted of seven hundred and forty — British regulars, 
Canadian militia and savages, besides a number of Indians belong- 
ino- to the settlement of Brownstown, The injury sustained by the 
detachment, was seventeen men killed and sixty-four Avounded. 
The loss on the enemy's side was one hundred and thirty-four killed 
and wounded. 

After the battle, the detachment remained a few days at Maguaga, 
waiting provisions from Detroit, which had been sent for — the sol- 
diers having before the engagement, thrown away their knapsacks 
which contained their rations. While thus \vaiting, Col. Miller 
received an order from Gen. Hull, to return with his men to De- 
troit, which he did, without having accomplished the object of his 
expedition. 

The troops with the cattle, still remained at their post on the 
River Raisin, awaiting support from Detroit. The difficulties 
which prevented them from reaching Detroit, without aid, may be 
better understood, when it is remembered that the usual route, and 
indeed almost the only passable one, between them and the garri- 
son, run principally along the northern shore of the Detroit river. 
The road was exposed to the enemy's fire from the opposite shore, 
and from their ^un boats and vessels in the river It was impos- 
sible to proceed on that route without being annoyed by them. The 
forces at the Raisin did not exceed two hundred and fifty men — a 
few of them regulars — the main body being militia and volunteers. 
They were liable to attack where they were — and it was a matter 
of no small moment that they should be relieved. It was there- 
fore determined to send another detachment to them, by a circuit- 
ous route through the interior of the country, and a number of 
miles distant from the river. Gen. Hull ordered a detachment of 
three hundred and fifty men for that purpose. Col. McArthur was 
placed in command. Col. Cass accompanied them as a volunteer. 
The presence of this brave soldier always inspired the men with 
more than usual courage. He was beloved and respected by them, 
as well for his courteous and affable demeanor, as for his constant 
practice of sharing with them the privations and fatigues of ardu- 
ous and difficult service. Wherever there was aught to be done, 



32 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

serviceable to his country, there he was found, with men rallying 
around him, eager to follow him in any deed of daring, animated 
by his example to peril all to the last extremity, for the success and 
glory of their country's flag. 

It was late in the day of the fourteenth of August, when Colonels 
McArthur and Cass left Detroit with the detachment, on their la- 
borious and difficult expedition. So short was the time between the 
announcement of the project, and the moment of its execution, 
that the detachment were forced to march without a supply of pro- 
visions. Soon after their departure, an event occurred which ren- 
dered the completion of the enterprise unnecessary, and determined 
Gen. Hull to recall them to Detroit. The particulars of this event 
— The Surrender of Detroit — present the most extraordinary 
and unprecedented instance of passive submission on record. The 
event itself, happening at the outset of the war, without even a 
plausible appearance of necessity, excited the deepest indignation 
in every mind throughout the United States, capable of apprecia- 
ting its disastrous influence. 

When Colonels Cass and McArthur marched with their detach- 
ment from Detroit, it was supposed, generally, at that post, that 
Gen. Brock the acting Governor, and Major General, commanding 
the British army in Upper Canada, was stationed at Fort George 
on the Niagara frontier. If other knowledge of his position was 
in possession of any person in the American army of the north- 
west, it was carefully kept a profound secret. The supposition as 
to his position was erroneous. Gen. Brock, during the existence 
of an armistice agreed upon, between Gen. Dearborn, the senior 
General of the American army, and Sir George Provost, Governor 
General and commander of the British forces in both the Canadas, 
and which only had reference to the movements of both armies on 
the eastern frontier, had moved with his forces by a ranid march 
from York to Maiden. He arrived at Maiden on the fourteenth 
of Atigust, 1812, and on the next day marclied up the river and 
took post at Sandwich, nearly opposite Fort Detroit. Here he 
erected batteries and other works indicating an intention of ma- 
king an attack on the fort. No attempt was made to drive him 
from his position. 

At about noon of the next day, the 15th, a boat was seen to 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 33 

leave the Canadian shore, having on board two British officers, 
bearing a flag of truce. Upon reaching tlie American side, the 
officers landed at the public wharf in the town of Detroit, where 
they were received by Captains Snelling and Fuller, who had been 
directed by Col. Miller to ascertain the object of their visit. They 
announced themselves to be Colonel McDonald, of the Canadian 
militia, and Captain Glegg, of the British regulars, aids to Gen 
Brock, and bearers of a despatch from him to Gen. Hull. They 
were blindfolded and conducted to the house of Col. H. J. Hunt, 
about two hundred yards from the fort, where they were detained 
until their despatches could be delivered to Gen. Hull, and an an- 
swer received from him. After an interval of some hours, Capt. 
Hull, son and aid to the General, came to the house where the 
officers were, bearing the reply of Gen. Hull. It was delivered to 
them ; they were conducted to their boat, and recrossed the river. 
It soon transpired that the object of their visit was to present to 
Gen. Hull a formal demand from Gen. Brock of the surrender of 
Detroit. This news spreading among the citizens, caused consid- 
erable panic and confusion. Anxiety for the safety of their fami- 
lies dwelt in every mind. No one dreamed of a surrender — the 
feeling of the moment was resistance, and moving the women and 
children, with their moveable goods and furniture, out of the reach 
of the enemy's guns. They expected an attack and were pre- 
pared to resist it. 

The arrival of the British officers, and the report that Gen. 
Brock had demanded the surrender of the post, gave the first in- 
timation to the citizens and soldiers of the proximity of the British 
General. The demand of surrender was in the following terms : 

" Head Quarteks, Sandwich, Aug. 15, 1812. 

Sir : — The force at my disposal authorises me to require of 
you the immediate surrender of Fort Detroit. It is far from my 
inclination to join in a war of extermination ; but we must be 
aware that ihe numerous body of Indians, who have attached 
themselves to my troops, will be beyond my control the moment the 
contest commences. You will find me disposed to enter into such 
conditions as will satisfy the most scrupulous sense of honor. 
Lieut. Col. McDonald and Major Glegg are fully authorized to 
conclude any arrangement that may prevent the unnecessary ef- 
fusion of blood. I have the honor to be your obedient servant, 
(Signed) ISAAC BROCK, Major-Gen'l, &c. 

His Excellency, Brigadier Gen. Hull, &c." 



34 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

To this letter, Gen. Hull returned the following decided refusal 
to comply with its proposal, although the latter portions of the re- 
ply appear to be apologetic for some transactions, which were not 
nearly so offensive as the insolent demand of the British General : 

" Head Quarters, Detroit, Aug. 15, 1812. 

Sir : — I have no other reply to make than to inform you that I 
am prepared to meet any force which may be at your disposal, and 
any consequences which may result from any exertion of it you 
may think proper to make. 

I avail myself of this opportunity to inform you, that the flag 
of truce, under the direction of Captain Brown, proceeded con- 
trary to the orders, and without the knowledge of Col. Cass, who 
commanded the troops which attacked your picket near the river 
Canard bridge. 

I likewise take this occasion to inform you that Cowie's house 
was set on fire contrary to my orders, and it did not take place un- 
til after the evacuation of the Fort. From the best information I 
have been able to form on the subject, it was set on fire by some 
of the inhabitants on the other side of the river. 

I am, very respectfully, your Excellency's most obedient servant, 
(Signed) " W. HULL, 

Brigadier General, &c. 

His Excellency Maj. Gen. Brock, »S^.c." 

The natural supposition of every man, on reading that part of 
Gen. Hull's letter, having reference to the haughty and offensive 
demand of Gen. Brock, would be, that he intended to oppose to 
the last moment, any attempt on the part of the enemy to possess 
themselves of the Fort, and would yield only with his life, the flag 
of his country to the invader. How then in comparison with the 
letter and spirit of his answer to Gen. Brock, can the subsequent 
conduct of Gen Hull be accounted for, unless it be admitted that 
he was afterwards suddenly smitten with fear and dismay, by the 
very first step taken by the British General to enforce the surren- 
der of the Fort ? 

A short time before sunset on the day on which the above com- 
munications passed between the two Generals, the British, who 
had been permitted unmolested to erect their works on a comman- 
in g point of ground at Sandwich, commenced firing upon Detroit. 
The bank of the river being higher there, than on the American 
side, gave them a decided advantage in throwing shot and shells 
into the Fort. They, however, did but little execution ; only one 
man was injured, and that only slightly in one arm. The fire was 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 35 

returned from one of the batteries which had been built near the 
centre of the town. The attack upon the town continued until 
near midnight when it was suspended for a few hours. At day- 
light the next morning, August sixteenth, it was resumed on both 
sides, the enemy commencing, and our batteries returning the fire. 
The firing was kept up on our side until orders were issued to stop 
firing. The firing from the other side continued a quarter of an 
hour after our batteries had ceased, and killed two of our commis- 
sioned officers, a surgeon and two privates. Soon after, Captain 
Hull was sent across the river with a flag of truce. 

During the bombardment, many incidents, worthy of note, oc- 
curred. At its commencement, the citizens being unaccustomed 
to the roar of artillery, the rattling of shot ^gainst the sides and 
upon the roofs of the houses, and the bursting of shells, kept a 
vigilant eye upon the movements of the enemy. When they saw 
the flash or smoke of a cannon or mortar on the other side, they 
dodged behind some building or place of shelter. After a little 
while they became more used to it and paid less attention to the 
messages sent by the enemy through the air. The late Judge 
Woodward, one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of the Terri- 
tory, at that time kept bachelor's hall, in a stone building on the 
north side of Jefferson avenue, the principal street of the town^ 
running parallel with the river, and situated near the arsenal. 
Between this house and the river, there was a large brick store^ 
house belonging to the United States, and near it one of our bat- 
teries was built. Many of the shots aimed at the battery strncfc 
the store house. A shot passed over the store house and perfora- 
ted the stone building in which the Judge had his quarters. He 
had just arisen from his bed and stood beside it. The shot came 
through into his room and 'struck the pillow and bed, and drove 
them into the fire place; and the spent ball rolled out on to the 
floor. 

On the evening of the 15th a large shell was thrown from a moi- 
tar opposite where Woodward avenue now is. As it came career- 
ing along in its circling path through the air, it was watched with 
an anxious eye, by those who saw it, as a messenger of death, per- 
haps, to some fellow mortal unconscious of his approaching fate. 



36 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

The fuse was burning brightly as swiftly it sped on its errand of 
destruction. It passed over Jefferson avenue, and fell upon the 
roof of the dwelling of Mr. Augustus Langdon, which stood on 
what is now called the southerly corner of Woodward avenue and 
Congress street. Passing through the upper rooms of the house, 
it fell upon a table around which the family were seated — and then 
descended through the floor to the cellar — the fuse burnt down 
nearly to the powder. The family fled with expedition to the 
street, which they had just reached, when the shell exploded — 
tearing up the floors, and carrying away a portion of the roof. 

None of the citizens of the town were killed during the attack, 
though many of the dwellings were marked by the shot and shells 
of the enemy. 

The fort occupied the high grounds near the residence of the 
late Judge McDonell. A shot passed over the front wall, and 
penetrated the barracks, which were on the north side, killing three 
officers who happened to be standing in the range of its course. 
Another shot struck the top of the front parapet, and, passing 
through it, struck a soldier on the breast, killing him instantly, 
without breaking the skin where it hit him. 

One of the French citizens, who lived in a small house near the 
river, while the shots and shells were flying over him, stood uncon- 
cerned in his doorway smoking his pipe. Presently, a shell whiz- 
zed past him, taking with it the pipe from his mouth. He was 
unharmed, but was so indignant, at the unceremonious treatment, 
and the loss of his pipe, that he seized his musket, and, rushing to 
the river, waded out as far as he could, and fired at the battery of 
the enemy until his ammunition was exhausted. 

In the mean time, under cover of his batteries, Gen. Brock had 
crossed the river with his forces and landed at Springwells, a mile 
or two below the town. Here he formed his line and marched up 
a narrow lane leading from Springwells to the town, halting at a 
ravine just below the city. Here he remained unmolested, and par- 
took of breakfast, while he dispatched an officer with a flag to 
ascertain why the American General sent a flag of truce across the 
river, when Ae was on this side. ' Gen. Hull sent Captain Snelling 
with a note to Gen. Brock, which he delivered ; the purport of 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 37 

which was that he agreed to surrender the fort. Col. McDonald 
and Captain Glegg were sent by Gen. Brock to agree upon the 
terms of the surrender. 

Gen. Brock crossed with his army early on the morning of the 
16th of August. It consisted of a regiment of regulars, volunteers 
in uniform, and un-uniformed militia. The exact number cannot 
be ascertained. According to Captain Snelling, who attempted 
to count them as they entered the fort, "there were in advance the 
troops of the 41st regiment in platoons of fourteen files; as well as 
the York militia volunteers — twenty-nine platoons, two deep, in 
red coats — that the militia platoons consisted of no more than sev- 
en or eight files, and composed one-third of the whole force — pro- 
bably seven hundred and fifty whites, of which the remaining two- 
thirds were regulars and un-uniformed militia." But let the num- 
ber be as it may, greater or less, the British General was permitted 
to land with as many, or as few troops as he chose, without oppo- 
sition, without an arm raised or a gun fired to resist his progress, 
although he was seen from the ramparts of the fort to cross the 
river, and Gen. Hull informed of the fact. 

The American force amounted to at Jeast one thousand men fit 
for duty. Among the troops in garrison on the day of the surren- 
der, there were two troops of mounted men, a part of the fourth 
regiment of infantry, several detachments of the first infantry, 
Capt. Dyson's artillery, and the Michigan Legion, who were es- 
teemed to be among the best disciplined and bravest soldiers of the 
army ; also Col. Brush's regiment of militia. 

There was also in the fort an abundant supply of field pieces, 
arms and ammunition, and provisions sufficient to stand a short 
siege. Disposition was even made by Gen. Hull, of the troops, in- 
dicating that he intended to defend his flag and punish the temeri- 
ty of his antagonist. The forces were drawn out and formed into 
line. The militia under CoL Brush, were posted in defence of the 
town. Col. Findlay's regiment of near five hundred strong, togeth- 
er with the Michigan Legion, formed a line in advance of the fort 
towards Springwells, and so as to close with the militia under Col. 
Brush. The artillery, ammunition, and part of the fourth regiment 
were at the batteries on the bank of the river. 



38 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

The Fort itself was defended by a part of the fourth regiment 
of infantry, and was amply provided with means of defence, even 
if oiiT troops had been forced to retreat to it. It stood on an emi- 
nence, the highest ground within a circumference of several miles. 
As described by an officer who had charge of the ordnance depart- 
ment at that time, it was a regular half bastion fort, composed of 
four curtains and four half bastions, about one hundred yards on 
each face, not including the half bastions, about seventy-five yards 
being the extreme length of the curPain. It was partly made of 
earth ; the parapet was eleven feet in elevation ; the thickness of 
the top of the parapet was about twelve feet; the banquet for infan- 
try six feet from the foundation or level of the Fort, and five feet 
for the parapet ; the whole width of the rampart at its base twenty- 
six feet At the bottom of the exterior or slope of the parapet 
there was a horizontal space of ground about two or three feet in 
width, extending around the whole circumference of the work. 
The ditch upon an average, was from five to six feet deep, and at 
the bottom twelve feet wide. In the bottom of the ditch around 
the Fort, there was a row of pickets of cedar, nearly new, and 
twelve feet high ; they were fastened together by a rib. The gate 
was thorougly made of plank with spikes ; over the gate was a 
look-out house strongly built; cannon were mounted in the embra- 
zures; the fort was generally in good order, and' in good repair. 
There was in the Fort at that time, thirty-five pieces of ordnance, 
from twenty-four pounders down to six inch howitzers, twenty-five 
hundred stand of arms, fourteen thousand cannon balls, seventeen 
hundred shells, four thousand hand grenades, three and a half 
tuns of lead, some of which was run into balls, one hundred thou- 
sand flints, seven hundred rounds of fixed ammunition for the can- 
aon, and about ten thousand pounds of powder. 

Major Jessuphad obtained the consent of Gen. Hull to take out 
some pieces of artillery to fire upon the enemy as they approached. 
He was proceeding to his command when he noticed that the line 
which had been so advantageously formed for driving the enemy 
back, was breaking up and retreating to the Fort. Inquiring of 
an officer what it meant, he was told to "look to the fort." He did 
so, and there saw a uhite flag flying. Riding up to the fort, he 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 



39 



inquired of Gen. Hull "if it was possible he was about to surren- 
der?" He received an affirmative reply. The troops were all 
ordered to the fort. The aids of the British General were there to 
complete the capitulation — articles were entered into, by which 
Fort Detroit, with all the troops, regulars as well as militia, were 
surrendered to the British forces under Major General Brock, and 
both were considered prisoners of war, except such of the Michi- 
gan militia as had not joined the army. Public property of every 
description was given to the enemy. The detachment of Ohio 
militia at the Raisin, and Col. McArthur's detachment, were in- 
cluded in the conditions of the stipulation. The officers and sol- 
diers of the Michigan and Ohio militia and volunteers, were per- 
mitted to return to their homes, not to serve during the war, unless 
exchanged. The Americcn soldiers marched out of the fort at 
twelve o'clock on the 16th of August, and the British forces took 
possession. The regulars of the United States army were taken 
prisoners to Quebec. Gen. Hull was taken to Montreal, and was 
afterwards exchanged. 

The British established a temporary government under Proctor, 
and stationed a small force in the fort. The citizens of the terri- 
tory and town suffered dreadfully from the Indians. They were 
numerous and insolent, claiming as a right the privilege of plun- 
dering and laying waste every house and farm in the territory. It 
is well known that the worst passions of these savages were exci- 
ted by their British allies against the American people. They lost no 
opportunity of gratifying their vindictiveness and ferocious enmity. 

Gen. Brock appears to have been quite as much surprised, as 
pleased, at his unexpected success. His communication to Pro- 
vost, announcing the fall of Detroit, was written upon the spot, and 
at the moment of his triumph — under the exhilaration of an un- 
looked for and bloodless victory. It bears date, Detroit, August 
16th, 1812, and says: " I hasten to apprise your Excellency of the 
capture of this very important post. Twenty-five hundred troops 
have this day surrendered prisoners of war, and about twenty-five 
pieces of ordnance, have been taken without the sacrifice of a drop 
of British blood. I had not more than 600 troops, including mill, 
tia, and about 600 Indians, to accomplish this service. When I 
detail my good fortune, your Excellency will be astonished.' 



40 LIFE OF GENEKAL CASS. 

Thus occurred this memorable transaction, which excited in the 
bosom of every American, feelings of the deepest indignation. 
Never h;.d the American army, until then, yielded to the arrogant 
demands of an enemy, or been compelled by its commander, qui- 
etly to submit, without striking a single blow in defence. Had 
Gen. Hull listened to the advice which he received from his brave 
officers, and planted a battery at Springwells, Gen. Brock would 
never have stepped on American soil. He would have been forced 
to abandon his attempt to land, or else subjected his men to total 
and complete destruction. Had he permitted his soldiers to fire 
upon the enemy after they had landed, they would have been cut 
to pieces on their march from Springwells to the town. Gen. Hull 
might at that time have so disposed of his troops and artillery, as 
to shoot them down as they approached. Such was the unanimous 
opinion of the officers and soldiers; nay of all. who were partici- 
pants in the scene. But not the slightest effort at resistance was 
made. Not a man in our army, but was on the alert, anxiously 
waiting the order for attack. They stood by their guns, ready to 
deal death and destruction upon the advancing columns of their 
enemies. Hope animated all, for they reasonably expected that 
the moment of victory had arrived, and each one had nerved his 
arm to strike a blow that would bring triumph to his flag. But, 
alas, no such order was given. The lips of the commanding Gen- 
eral were sealed. Not a word of hope or encouragement did he 
utter ; not even an order to fire a single gun. He did at length 
give an order, but it was one which struck horror and anguish to 
the hearts of the brave men, who saw their enemies before them, 
within their reach, and yet were prevented by obedience to mili- 
tary discipline from obtaining a proud and glorious triumph over 
the presumptuous invaders — it was an order to retreat to the fort. 
They reluctantly obeyed, and as they turned towards the fort, they 
saw spread to the breeze, and flying in triumph over the star-span- 
gled banner, the white flag of surrender. Ai that sight, the heart 
of that army, as if it was that of one man, was chilled to the core. 
It was then too late to change the current of events. Had the in- 
tention of Gen. Hull been known but a little earlier, some one of 
the brave spirits, whom he outranked, would have placed himself at 
the head of the army and driven the enemy from American territory. 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 41 

None could comprehend the motive or cause of this disgraceful 
surrender. No one expected it. When the intelligence reached 
the eastern frontier, soon after they had heard there of Col. Cass' 
successful efforts in Canada, it was received with doubt, and many 
would not believe it. Col. Cass, in his letter to the War Depart- 
ment, giving a true and impartial statement of the transaction, says 
"the General must have taken counsel only of his own feelings, 
for no one anticipated a surrender ; even the women were indig- 
nant at so shameful a degradation of American character." 

Gen. Hull, in his official dispatch to the Secretary of War, com- 
municating the fall of Detroit, bears testimony to the noble spirit 
which pervaded his officers and men. He says : "A large portion 
of the brave and gallant officers and men I commanded, would 
cheerfully have contested until the last cartridge had been expend- 
ed, and the bayonets worn to the sockets." "Before I close this 
dispatch, it is a duty I owe my respectable associates in command, 
Colonels McArthur, Findlay, Cass, and Lieut. Miller, to express 
my obligations to them for the prompt and judicious manner they 
have performed their respective duties. If aught has taken place 
during the campaign, which is honorable to the army, these officers 
are entitled to a large share of it. If the last act should be dis- 
approved, no part of the censure belongs to them." 

Gen. Hull was afterwards brought to trial for his conduct, while 
in command of the army of the Northwest. He was convicted by 
the Court Martial, and sentenced to be shot. In consideration of 
his revolutionary services, the sentence was remitted by the Presi- 
dent of the United States, 

While this scene was transacting — while the British General 
was receiving from Gen. Hull the delivery of the American Fort 
and army. Col. Cass, inspired by patriotism and an ardent desire 
to render his country all possible service, was on duty with his de- 
tachment threading with his soldiers the wild and devious pathway 
of the wilderness. The detachment had, despite the serious obsta- 
cles which at every step, almost, retarded its progress, under the 
cheering presence of its officers, proceeded nearly twenty miles on 
its route. This was accomplished on the night of the 14th, hav- 
ing marched most of the night. Sometime after midnight they 
halted and rested until mornincr. The march was then resumed 



42 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

and continued all day. Towards evening on the 15th, the guides 
and mounted men who had been sent in advance to see if Capt. 
Brush was on his way, returned without having met any one, or 
discovered anything but Indian trails. By this time the men were 
completely exhausted from fatigue and want of food. They start- 
ed without provisions, and none were sent after them as had been 
promised. They had eaten nothing but green corn and pumpkins, 
which they got from a field which they passed. A consultation 
was held among the officers, and it was decided to return to De- 
troit. This step was forced upon them by the famished and weari- 
ed condition of the men. The return march was commenced, but 
continued only for a short distance, when they halted for rest. It 
was here that Cols. Cass and McArthur first learned that Gen. 
Brock had reached Detroit river, from a note brought to them from 
Gen. Hull, the substance of which was that Gen. Brock was on 
the opposite side of the river, and had summoned the town to surren- 
der. They were directed to return as soon as possible. From the 
tenor of Gen. Hull's note, Col. Cass anticipated an engagement 
with the British army, and was so anxious to reach the Fort before 
any decisive movement occurred, that had not the laborious march 
of the day, and the fatigue of the soldiers prevented, he would 
have returned that night At early dawn the next morning they 
started and traveled until nine o'clock, when they halted for a short 
time, having reached the river Rouge somewhere near Dearborn, 
Those only who are conversant from experience with the difficul- 
ties and toil of forcing a way through the swamps and morasses of 
the wilderness, can appreciate the labors of those gallant officers 
and soldiers. After a short interval, the march was resumed, and 
soon after, firing of cannon was heard in the direction of Detroit. 
This hastened their movements. They hoped to get there in time 
to participate in the defence of the Fort, intending to come to the 
aid of the garrison by attacking the British in the rear, if they 
should find that Brock, by the fortunes of war, or other causes, 
had succeeded in treading upon American soil. The firing did not 
Ions continue after it was first heard. When it ceased, the sus- 
pense which tortured the minds of Cols. Cass and McArthur can 
be better conceived than described. What the result was, they 
could not determine. Gen. Hull's retreat from Canada had not 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 43 

contributed to awaken in them any additional confidence in his 
judgment or capacity for conducting the campaign. Hence they 
were in doubt. It was indeed no desirable position for those two 
hrave and gallant officers, to be miles from the scene of supposed 
conflict, yet within the sound of the cannon, but unable from irre- 
mediable necessity to bring their forces to combat with the enemy. 
While brooding over the chances, which appeared to be against 
them, and lamenting the fortune which prevented them from win- 
ning for their country and themselves, the glory and advantage of 
victory over the enemy, they were met by some persons from De- 
troit, who informed them that the town and Fort were surrendered 
by Gen. Hull, and in possession of the British army. They could 
not believe the report. It was too repugnant to their proud and 
patriotic spirits to admit that the star spangled banner, which but 
two days previous they had left gaily sporting in the free winds, on 
the flag post of their Fortress, was trailing in the dirt at the feet 
of an enemy. The sad and unwelcome news was too soon con- 
firmed by the return of their own scouts whom they sent to ascer- 
tain the state of affairs at Detroit. On receiving this intelligence 
a council of officers was held, which resulted in a decision to fall 
back a few miles to the River Rouge, and take position at a bridge 
which afforded some advantages for defence- Here the soldiers 
killed an ox, roasted it, and eat it without bread or salt, being their 
first meal since they left Detroit on the night of the 14th of Au- 
gust, except some corn and pumpkins. Capt. Mansfield was sent 
with a flag to the British commander to ascertain upon what terms 
the surrender had been made, and to notify him that if the surren- 
der was unconditional, the detachment would prepare to defend 
themselves. Before Capt. Mansfield returned, Capt. Elliot, a Brit- 
ish officer bearing a flag, and accompanied by some Indians, ap- 
proached the detachment, He delivered to Col McArthur a note 
from Gen. Hull, and exhibited the articles of capitulation. The 
note from Gen. Hull, was to the effect that the detachment was in- 
cluded in the capitulation, and directed Col. McArthur to return 
to Detroit. By the rules of war and military government there 
was an obligation on the officers of the detachment to submit to 
the order of their commander and acquiesce in his proceedings, 
however repugnant to their inclinations and wishes. In this case, 



44 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

too, tliere appeared no alternative, but to obey, or subject their 
men, worn down and exhausted, to an attack from the British and 
hordes of Indians who immediately after the surrender, thronged 
into the town and vicinity. It was alike impossible to retreat 
through the woods to Ohio, or advance hastily to Detroit. They 
had no provisions, and but a scanty supply of ammunition. The 
detachment marched to Detroit. 

But to the humiliating ceremony of personal submission. Col. 
Cass would not submit. With the unconquerable spirit of a free- 
man, he resolved that his sword should not be dishonored by the 
touch of the enemy. " Traitor !" he exclaimed; " he has verified 
our worst fears — he has eluded our grasp and disgraced the coun- 
try. But the enemy shall never receive my sword." With these 
words, he broke his sword and cast the pieces away. 

No evidence is necessary to establish the fact, that Col. Cass, 
then, as on every other occasion during the war, acted with the 
bravery and energy characteristic of the patriot and brave soldier • 
yet it may not be out of place, here to record the unsolicited tes- 
timony of the gallant General Jessup, who was acting Adju- 
tant General of Hull's army, to the patriotism and military capa- 
city of his companion in arms. He says, " as to Gen. Cass, I have 
served with him in two campaigns, and a part of the time under 
his orders and attached to his brigade. I have seen him in situa- 
tions and under circumstances, that would test the courage of any 
man, and he never faltered ; but always acted in accordance with 
the dictates of high patriotism. Whatever may be the course of 
others, he is never the apologist of the enemy; but is always found 
on the side of his country." 

No man in the army was more indignant than Col. Cass at the 
conduct of Gen. Hull. Once before, and only a few days pre- 
vious to the closing of the campaign, he beheld an opportunity 
for victory and conquest, of the most incalculable advantage to the 
country, lost by the needless and inglorious retreat of the comman- 
ding General from Canada. By that inexplicable event, the suspi- 
cions of Col. Cass and other officers, were awakened. They be- 
came fearful that Gen. Hull contemplated some movement which 
would prove disastrous to the American cause. Indeed, it is well 
known, that three officers of high rank, in view of the perilous con- 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 45 

dition in which cowardice or treachery would have pi aced the in- 
terests and honor of the country, had resolved upon the first indi- 
cation of a want of patriotism, or courage, or reluctance on the 
part of the commanding General, to fulfil the obligations due to 
his country, to arrest him and deprive him of iiis command. The 
absence of two of those officers, at the time of the surrender of 
Detroit, defeated the realization of a measure which, doubtless, 
Avould have averted the fate of that post. It may be safely assert- 
ed, that so far as human power could avail, had Cols. Cass and Mc- 
Arthur been at Detroit on the 16th of August, or could they have 
reached there before Brock landed, or even before the capitulation 
was signed, Detroit never would have been tamely given up to the 
enemy. They, with the other gallant spirits of the army, would 
each have fought, as long as life lasted, in defence of the flag of 
the Union. It is more than probable that knowledge, of the ab- 
sence of those two distinguished and popular officers, induced Gen. 
Brock to invade our territory. 

As soon as Elliott had delivered the order from Gen. Hull to 
Col. McArthur at the river Rouge, he moved on with his escort, 
to the river Raisin, to find Capt. Brush, to deliver a similar mes- 
sage to him. He reached the camp of that officer on the 17th. 
He was seen approaching at some distance from the post, and Capt. 
Rowland with a small guard was dispatched to receive him. El- 
liott supposing him to be the commander of the post, delivered the 
papers which he bore, to him. On reading them Capt. Rowland 
was confounded with doubt and amazement, and exclaimed, "trea- 
son or forgery !" Elliott was then blindfolded and led to the o-ar- 
rison, to Capt. Brush. Examining the papers, Capt. Brush pro- 
nounced them palpable forgeries, and told Elliott he should be de- 
tained until further information was obtained, and should be held 
responsible for the consequences. Elliott and his ccmpanions 
were placed under separate guard. A short time after, soldiers 
from Detroit came to the camp, and confirmed the surrender of 
the fort. A council of officers was held on the course to be adop- 
ted. It was unanimously agreed that Gen. Hnll had no authority 
to bind the detachment by capitulation, and they were not bound 
to subscribe to his terms. It was also proposed to break up the 
camp, destroy the public stores which could not be carried away, 



46 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

and march to Ohio. Considerations of humanity, towards some 
families living at the camp, and some soldiers who were in the hos- 
pital, prevented the destruction of the stores. The camp was bro- 
ken up, and the detachment marched back to Ohio. 

Col. Cass, in his communication to the Secretary of War, on the 
subject of this surrender, says in the glowing language of a true 
hearted patriot — "Our duty and our interest was to fight. The 
enemy invited us to meet him in the field. By defeating him the 
whole country would have been open to us, and the whole object 
of our expedition gloriously and successfully obtained. If we had 
been defeated, we had nothing to do but retreat to the fort, and 
make the best defence which circumstances and our situation ren- 
dered practicable. But basely to surrender without firing a gun — 
tamely to submit without raising a bayonet — disgracefully to pass 
in review before an enemy, inferior in quality as well as the num- 
ber of his forces, were circumstances which excited feelings of 
indignation more easily felt than described. To see the whole of 
our men, flushed with the hope of victory, eagerly awaiting the ap- 
proaching contest; to see them afterwards, dispirited, hopeless and 
desponding, at least five hundred shedding tears, because they 
were not allowed to meet their country's foe, and tofight their 
country's battles, excited sentiments which no American has ever 
before had cause to feel, and which I trust in God will never again 
be felt, while one man remains to defend the standard of the 
Union.''^ 

General Hull, in his official account of the transaction, offers in 
justification of the surrender, the inefficient condition of his army, 
which he states to have been " worn down by fatigue, sickness, 
wounds and death," and utterly unable to defend itself against the 
combined force of British and Indians. As civil Governor of the 
territory, he felt bound to protect the population of the town and 
vicinity, from the sacrifice of blood and life, which would have been 
the consequence, had the result of battle been against him. He 
dreaded the barbarities of the Indians, upon the defenceless and 
conquered, in the event of his defeat. Neither the reasons stated 
in his official dispatch, nor his argument before the court martial, 
defending his course, satisfied his fellow officers who sat in judg- 
ment upon him, nor the people of the country. Public opinion 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 47 

condemned the act. Time may have greatly mollified the severity 
of censure pronounced upon him by his countrymen. The motive 
of humanity which preferred and effected the sacrifice of an army 
and a nation's honor, to the contingent disasters of merely antici- 
pated defeat, may have weight with the philanthropist and non- 
resistant ; but the recorded evidence of the whole affair, will ever 
sustain the general judgment of the country — that had Gen. Hull 
displayed the valor, the activity, and noble daring which character- 
ized his revolutionary career, and made him the recipient of the 
well merited personal commendation of Gen. Washington, and of 
the approbatiou of his countrymen for his services at Trenton, 
Stoney Point, and Saratoga — the stars and stripes would not have 
fallen from the flag post of Detroit. They might have been torn 
and tatterefl, and riddled by the enemy's bullets ; but every rent 
would have been a history of glorious achievement, and every bul- 
let hole a star of glory, for the brave and victorious defenders. 

The general incredulity, in which the news of Hull's surrender 
was every where received, is the best evidence of its unexpected- 
ness, and utter non-necessity. Even at the very moment when ar- 
ticles of capitulation were being prepared in the American Fort, 
crowded with mortified and enraged officers and soldiers, the peo- 
ple of the States were rejoicing at the reports that were rife among 
them, that the American army had full possession of the Western 
frontier of Canada, and had driven the enemy from their important 
post at Maiden. The transition from joy, at the belief that the ob- 
ject of the expedition was accomplished, to gloom and sorrow for 
the certainty of its complete failure was sudden, but it had the ef- 
fect of arousing a spirit throughout the country, active, determin- 
ed and effective, for avenging the disaster. 

The General Assembly of Ohio, at its session in December, 1 812, 
adopted resolutions commendatory of the promptitude, courage, and 
honest zeal manifested by the officers and soldiers of the Ohio vol- 
unteers. The resolutions accompanied by a complimentary and 
approving letter from Gen. Meigs, were transmitted to Colonels 
Cass, Findlay and McArthur, the commandants of the three regi- 
ments, composing the corps of volunteers. 

The letter and resolutions are here annexed : — 



48 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

Chillicothe, Dec. 28th, 1812. 

Sir: — In compliance with a request of the General Assembly of the 
State of Ohio, I transmit you the enclosed resolutions. 

This act I perform with much satisfaction, because the principles ex- 
pressed in the resolutions I deem correct, and know that the applause be- 
stowed was truly merited by the Volunteers of OhiO: which, though unfor- 
tunate, were brave, and have exhibited a laudable example of prompti- 
tude, courage and zeal, wortiiy the imitation of the whole militia of the 
State. 

To the approbation of the General Assembly, permit me sir, to add my 
sincere commendation of the soldierly deportment of the corps under your 
command. 

Be pleased, sir, to accept the assurance of my consideration. 

R. J. MEIGS. 

Resoluiions concerning the conduct of the corps of Volunteers from this 
State, during (tnd previous to the late campaign under the command of 
General Hull: — 

Whereas, It is deemed of vital importance to every republujan govern- 
ment, that an ardent love of country should characterize its inhabitants ; 
and whereas, those are especially deserving of the gratitude of their country, 
who stand forth early, and with alacrity in its defence ; and whereas this 
General Assembly has been advised of the promptitude and honest zeal 
with which the corps of volunteers from this State, (lately undt r the com- 
mand of Gen. Hull,) assembled, were organized and marched into the 
enemy's country, and of their bravery and general good conduct, there- 
fore, 

Be it resolved, h/ the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of 
Ohio, That the thanks of this State are due to the officers and soldiers 
comprising the said corps, for the patriotism, bravery, and general good, 
conduct, which they evinced during their late arduous and disastrous cam- 
paign. 

Be itfurih'r Resolved, That the Governor of this State be requested to 
forward to each of the late commandants of the three regiments compo- 
sing said corps, a copy of these resolutions ; and that he take such f^ur- 
ther notice of them, in his general orders, as Commander-in-Chief of the 
militia of the State, as propriety may direct. 

JOHN POLLOCK, 
Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
THOMAS KISKER, 

Speaker of the Senate. 

A month having elapsed, subsequent to ihe surrender of the 
Northwestern Army and the town of Detroit, and no official report 
having been received at Washington, of the transaction, Col. Cass, 
who was there on parole, prepared and submitted to the Secretary 
of War, the following communication of the disastrous and inglo- 
rious afTair : — 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 49 

LETTER OF COLONEL CASS, 

Of the Army late iinder the command of Brigadier General William Hull, 
to the Secrelartj of War. 

Washi.ngtcn, Sept. 10, 1812. 
Sir — Having been ordered on to this place by Col McArthur, for the 
purpose of communiciiting' to the government, snch particulars respecting 
the expedition lately commanded by Brigadier General Hull, and its dis- 
astrous result, as might enable them to correctly appreciate the conduct of 
the officers and men, and to develope the causes which produced so foul 
a stain upon the national character, I have the honor to subir.it to your 
consideration the following statement : 

When the forces landed in Canada, they landed with an ardent zeal 
and stimulated Vr-ith the hope of conquest. .Vo entmrj appeared ivithin 
view of us, and had an immediate vigorous attack been made upon Mai- 
den, it would doubtless have fallen an easy victory. I know Gen. Hull 
afterwards declared he regretted this attack had not been made, and he 
had every reason to believe success would have crowned his efforts. The 
reason given for delaying our operations, was to mount our heavy cannon 
and afford the Canadian militia time and opportunity to quit an obnoxious 
service. In the course of two weeks, the number of their militia who 
•were embodied had decreased by desertion from six hundred to one hun- 
dred men — and, in the course of three weeks, the cannon were mounted, 
the ammunition fixed, and every preparation made for an immediate in- 
vestment of the fort. At a council, at which were present all the field 
officers, and which was held two days before our preparations were com- 
pleted, it was unanimously agreed to make an immediate attempt to ac- 
complish the object of the expedition. If by waiting two days we could 
have the service of our heavy artillei'y, it was agreed to wait — if not, it 
was determined to go without it, and to attempt the place by storm. This 
opinion appeared to correspond with the views of the General, and the 
day was appointed for commencing our march. He declared to me, that 
he considered himself pledged to lead the army to Maiden. The ammu- 
nition was placed in the wagons — the cannon were embarked on board 
the floating batteries, and every requisite article was prepared. The spirit 
and zeal, the ardor and animation displayed by the officers and men, on 
learning the near accomplishment of their wishes, was a sure and sacred 
pledge that in the hour of trial they would not be wanting in their duty to 
their country and themselves. But achange of n^oasures, in opposition 
to the wishes and opinions of all the officers, was adopted by the Gene- 
ral. The plan of attacking Maiden was abandoned, and instead of actino' 
offensively, we broke up our camp, evacuated Canada, and re-crossed the 
river in the night, without even the shadow of an enemy to injure us. We 
left to the tender mercy of the enemy the miserable Canadians who had 
joined us, and the prolenllon we afforded them was but a passport to ven- 
geance. This fatal and unaccountable step dispirited the troops, and de- 
stroyed the little confidence which a series of timid, irresolute, and unde- 
cisive measures had left in the commanding officer. 

About the 10th of August, the enemy received a reinforcement of four 
hundred men. On the 12th, the commanding officers of threi- of the re- 
giments (the fourth was absent) was informed through a medium which 
admitted of no doirbt, that the general had stated, that a capitulation 
would be necessary. They on the same day addressed to Gov. Meigs of 
Ohio, a letter, of which the following is an extract: 

" Believe all the bearer will tell you. Believe it, however it may aston- 
ish you, as much as if told you by one of us. Even a c is 

talked of by the The bearer will fill the vacancy." 



50 LIFE GENERAL CASS. 

The doubtful fate of this letter rendered it necessary to use circum- 
spection in its details, and therefore these blanks were left. The word 
"capitulation" will fill the first, and "commanding general" the other. As 
no enemy was near us, and as the superiority of our forces was manifest 
we could see no necessity for capitulating, nor any propriety in alluding 
to it. We therefore determined in the last resort to incur the responsi- 
bility of divesting the general of his command. This plan was eventu- 
ally prevented by two of the commanding officers of regiments being or- 
dered upon detachments. 

On the 13th, the British took a position opposite to Detroit, and began 
to throw up works. During that and the two following days, they pur- 
sued their object without interruption, and established a battery for two 
18 pounders and an 8 inch howitzer; About sunset, on the evening of 
the 14th, a detachment of 350 men from the regiments commanded by 
Col. McArthur and myself, was ordered to march to the river Raisin, to 
escort the provisions, which had sometime remained there, protected by a 
party under the command of Capt. Bru.-h. 

On Saturday, the 15th, about one o'clock, a flag of truce arrived from 
Sandwich, bearing a summons from Gen. Brock, for the surrender of the 
town and fort of Detroit, stating he could no longer restrain the fury of 
the savages. To this an immediate and spirited refusal was returned. 
About four o'clock their batteries began to play upon the town. The fire 
was returned and continued without interruption and with little effect till 
dark. Their shells were thrown till eleven o'clock. 

At daylight the firing on both sides re-commenced — about the same 
time, the enemy began to land troops at the Springwells, three miles be- 
low Detroit, protected by two of their armed vessels. Between 6 and 7 
o'clock they had efFtcted their landing, and immediately took up their 
line of march, They moved in a close column of platoons, twelve in 
front upon the bank of the river. 

The fourth regiment was stationed in the fort — the Ohio' volunteers and 
a part of the Michigan militia, behind some pickets in a situation in which 
the whole flank of the enemy would have been exposed. The residue of 
the Michigan militia were in the upper part of the town to resist the incur- 
sions of the savages. Two 24 pounders loaded with grape shot were 
posted upon a commanding eminence, ready to sweep the advancing col- 
umn. In this situation, the superiority of our position was apparent, and 
our troops in the eager expectation of victory, awaited the approach of 
the enemy. Not a sigh of discontent broke upon the ear, nor a look of 
cowardice met the eye. Every man expected a proud day for his coun- 
try, and each was anxious that his individual exertion should contribute to 
the general result. 

When the head of their column arrived within about five hundred yards 
of our line, orders were received from General Hull for the whole to re- 
treat to the Fort, and the twenty-four pounders not to open upon the ene- 
my. One universal burst of indignation was apparent upon the receipt of 
this order. Those whose conviction was the deliberate result of a dis- 
passionate examination of passing events, saw the folly and impropriety 
of crowding 1100 men into a work which 300 could fully man, and into 
which the shot and shells of the enemy were falling. The Fort was in 
this manner filled: the men were directed to stack their arms, and scarce- 
ly was an opportunity afforded of moving. Shortly after a white flag was 
hung out upon the walls. A British officer rode up to enquire the cause. 
A communication passed between the commanding generals, which end- 
ed in the capitulation submitted to you. In entering mto this capitula- 
tion the general took counsel from his own feelings only. Not an officer 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 51 

was consulted. Not one anticipated a surrender, till he saw the white 
flag displayed ; even the women were indignant at so shameful a deora- 
dation of the American character ; and all felt as they should have felt 
but he who held in his hands the reins of authority. ' 

Our morning report had that morning made our effective men present 
fit for duty 1060, without including the detachment before alluded to and 
without including 300 of the Michigan militia on duty. About darken 
Saturday evening, the detachment sent to escort the provisions, received 
orders from General Hull to return with as much expedition as possible. 
About 10 o'clock the next day, they arrived within sight of Detroit. Had 
a firing been heard or any resistance visible, they would have advanced 
and attacked the rear of the enemy. The situation in which this detach- 
ment was placed, although the result of accident, was the best for annoy- 
ing the enemy and cutting off his retreat that could have been selected. 
With his raw troops enclosed between two fires and no hope of succor it 
is hazarding little to say, that very few would have escaped. ' 

I have been informed by Col. P'indley, who saw the return of their 
quarter-master-general, the day after the surrender, that their whole force 
of every description, white, red and black, was 1030. They had twenty- 
nine platoons, twelve in a platoon, of men dressed in uniform. Many of 
those were evidently Canadian militia. The rest of their militia increased 
their white force to about seven hundred men. The number of their In- 
dians could not be ascertained with any degree of precision ; not many 
were visible. And in the event of an attack upon the town and fort, it 
was a species of force which could have afforded no material advantage 
to the enemy. 

In endeavoring to appreciate the motives and to investigate the causes 
which led to an event so unexpected and dishonorable, it is impossible to 
find any solution in the relative strength of the contending parties, or in 
the measures of resistance in our power. That we were far superior to 
the enemy; that upon any ordinary principles of calculation we would 
have defeated them, tlie wounded and indignant feelings of every man 
there will testify. 

A few days before the surrender, I was informed by Gen. Hull, we had 
400 rounds of 24 pound shot fixed, and about 100,000 cartridges made. 
We surrendered with the fort 50 barrels of powder, and 2500 stand of arms. 
The state of our provisions has not been generally understood. On 
the day of surrender, we had 15 days provisions of every kind on hand. 
Of meat, there was plenty in the country, and arrangements had been 
made .'or purchasing and grinding the flour. It was calculated we could 
readily procure three months' provisions, independent of 150 barrels of 
flour, 1300 head of cattle which had been forwarded from the State of 
Ohio, and which remained at the River Raisin, under Capt. Brush, within 
reach of the army. 

But had we been totally destitute of provisions, our duty and our inter- 
est was undoubtedly to fight. The enemy invited us to meet him in the 
field. 

By defeating him the whole country would have been open to us, and 
the object of our expedition gloriously and successfully obtained. If we 
had been defeated, we had nothing to do but to retreat to the fort, and 
make the best defence circumstances and our situation rendered practica- 
ble But basely to surrender without firing a gun — tamely to submit 
without raising a bayonet — disgracetully to pass in review before an ene- 
my as inferior in the quality as in the number of his forces, were circum- 
stances which excited feelings of indignation more easily felt than de- 
scribed. 



1^2 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

To see the whole of our men flushed with the hope of victory, eagerly 
awaiting the approaching contest, to see them afterwards dispirited, hope- 
less, desponding, at least 500 shedding tears because they were not al- 
lowed to meet their country's foes, and to fight their country's battles, ex- 
cited sensations which no American has ever before had cause to feel, 
and which I trust in God will never again be felt, while one man remains 
to defend the standard of the Union. 

I am expressly athorized to state, that Colonels Mc Arthur and Findley, 
and Lieutenant Colonel Miller viewed the transaction in the light which 
I do. They knew and I feel that no circumstance in our situation, none 
in that of the enemy, can excuse a capitulation so dishonorable and un- 
justifiable. This, too, is the universal sentiment among the troops ; and 
I shall be surprised to learn, that there is one man, who thinks it was ne- 
cessary to sheath his sword, or to lay down his musket. 

1 was informed by General Hull, the morning after the capitulation, that 
the British forces consisted of 1800 regulars, and that he surrendered to 
prevent the eflfusion of human blood. Tiiat he magnified the regular 
force nearly five fold, there can be no doubt. Whether the philanthropic 
reason assigned by him is a sufficient justification for surrendering a forti- 
fied town, an army and a territory, is for the government to determine. 

Confident I am, that had the courage and conduct of the General been 
equal to the spirit and zeal of the troops, the event would have been as 
brilliant and suceessful as it now is disastrous and dishonorable. 

Very respectfully, sir, &c. 

LEWIS CASS, 

Col. 3d Reg. Ohio Vol. 

Hon. William Eustis, Secretary of War. 



CHAPTER III. 

Effect of Surrender of Detroit — Volunteers of 1812 — Symms' " Card '■ — Indian 
Warfare — Cruelties of the Savages — The Massacre at the River Raisin — The 
Defence of Fort Steplienson by Croghau and his brave compeers. 

The surrender of Detroit, after the first momentary shock of its 
announcement, aroused the spirit and patriotism of the entire coun- 
try, particularly among the western people, who felt especially ag- 
grieved by the disaster. A feeling, amounting to eothusiasm, per- 
vaded the whole community. The country was electrified. The 
call to arms was hailed with rapture by the pioneer population of 
the West. Men capable of bearing arras vied with one another 
who should be first to enroll themselves. Men of all ranks and 
stations in life, filled the rolls of volunteers. By the twenty-fifth 
of August, nine days after the surrender, four thousand men, arm- 
ed and equipped, voluntarily assembled at Urbana, in Ohio. Gov- 
ernor Meigs, of that State, was honorably and conspicuously ac- 
tive in encouraging the patriotism manifested by his fellow citizens. 
Kentucky, Virginia, Ohio, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, poured 
forth their best citizens by thousands. The city and county of 
Baltimore proposed alone to raise an entire regiment. On the 
spur of the moment eighteen hundred Kentuckians marched from 
Newport. The gallant Col. Richard M. Johnson, then member 
of Congress from Kentucky, proposed to raise five hundred mount- 
ed men, and march forthwith to Detroit, trusting to the liberality 
of Congress for future indemnification. Kentucky was represent- 
ed on different portions of the western frontier by at least six thou- 
sand of her brave volunteers. Virginia sent out fifteen hundred 
men, for whom the ladies of Richmond made knapsacks and tents. 
The same hearty patriotism, manifesting itself by deeds, existed in 
every section of the country. Even the opponents of the war were 
effected by it, and many of them became strenuous advocates of 
what they had previously opposed. 



54 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

As characteristic of the feeling which animated the West, the 

following Card, which appeared in the newspapers of that day, is 

here inserted : 

A Card.— Col, Symmes, of the senior division of the Ohio Militia, pre- 
sents his respectful compliments to Major-General Brock, commanding 
his Britanic Majesty's forces, tvhite and red, in Upper Canada. Colonel 
Symmes observing that by the 4th article of Capitulation of Fort Detroit, 
to Major-General Brock, "all public arms, moving towards Detroit, are to 
be delivered up, but as no place of deposit is pointed out by the capitula- 
tion, forty thousand stand of arms, coming within the description, are at 
the service of Major-General Brock, if his Excellency will condescend to 
come and take them .'" 

The required number of men were soon in the field. Brigadier 
General William H. Harrison, of the United States Army, was com- 
missioned as Major-General by the Governor of Kentucky, and 
assumed command of the army, numbering about ten thousand men. 

In the wars which have taken place on this continent, between 
rival nations, the Indian tribes have been engaged. The British 
and the French employed them in their quarrels ; and in the Re- 
volutionary War, and in the war of 1812, the Indians fought on 
the side of the British. History abounds with heart-rending ac- 
counts of Indian outrage, perpetrated during the Revolution, and 
the recollection of the bloody massacres of the last war, is yet viv- 
id in the remembrance of our citizens. No language can convey 
an adequate idea of the horrors and barbarities of Indian warfare. 
The Indian, from earliest infancy, is initiated into the cruelties 
and tortures of exterminating hostilities. War to the knife — the 
knife to the handle, is the first teaching he receives from the lips 
and example of his father and brothers. His ambition is to use 
the scalping knife and tomahawk with skill and success. The 
scalp is more precious than the prisoner. In the conflict, he nei- 
ther asks nor gives quarter. He or his enemy must lie dead on the 
field. Exceptions there are, it is true, to this general practice, 
but it is a most bloody and cruel mercy that stays the death-blow. 
The conquered victim had better, by far, fall dead beneath the arm 
of his antagonist, than follow as a prisoner to the wigwam. In the 
latter case he is reserved for far more dreadful sufferings at the 
stake, often times to be prepared to suit the cannibal tastes of his 
victor. 

With atrocious disregard of the dictates of humanity, the British 
government did not hesitate to enroll the murderous savages in 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 55 

dose alliance with their regul^ soldiers. They did this with the 
full knowledge of the difficulty of restraining them, when once the 
fight begun, within the recognized limits of civilized warfare. In 
all these instances, too, the bloody instinct of the savage was re- 
ferred to by their Christian employers to intimidate and force their 
enemies to surrender. 

At the commencement of the war of 1812, the American gov- 
ernment used every possible means to induce the Indians to remain 
neutral and quiet ; but the passion for war, and strong inducements 
offered to them by the British Government, were too powerful to 
be resisted. They were seduced by promises and costly presents, 
to join hands against the United States, and led by talented and 
influential chiefs, they rendered many and valuable services to 
their Christian allies. 

It is not within the scope of this work to enumerate the frequent 
and barbarous butcheries of innocent and defenceless women and 
children, or the merciless and disoraceful slaughters which were 
permitted by the British officers, when the fortunes of war were 
in their favor. We have gone more into the detail of Indian char- 
acteristics than might seem appropriate to the present undertaking. 
But it will be recollected that the subject of this work, passed the 
greater part of the active portion of his life, surrounded by the 
warriors of the woods — within hearing of the dread war-whoop — 
and a witness of the solemnities of the war dance ; that it was his 
duty as the representative and dispenser of the authority of his gov- 
ernment, to negotiate treaties of peace and amity with them, or 
if needs be shoulder his rifle and lead his men to conquering com- 
bat against them. To give some idea of the fierce and turbulent 
spirits with whom he had to deal is the object of introducing here 
and elsewhere, the evidence of the difficulties and dangers which 
beset the path of him who is brought in contact with the Indian, 
either in peace or war. 

In January, 1813, the American army met with a sad reverse at 
the River Raisin, in Michio-an. This conflict is marked with in- 
cidents of horror and barbarity, which stamp it as one entire scene 
of bloody butchery on the part of the enemy, which finds no paral- 
lel in the history of war, where either of the contending parties 



56 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

make pretentions to civilization. This battle is known as the 
' Massacre of the River Raisin." 

Colonels Lewis and Allen, were ordered by Gen. Winche-ster, 
who was with the left wing of the array at Fort Defiance, to pro- 
ceed with detachments to Frenchtown, a settlement on the River 
Raisin, where the enemy were in force, annoying the inhabitants. 
The detachments arrived at Frenchtown in the afternoon of the 
ISth of January, 1813. The enemy had made preparations to re- 
ceive them, and opened a fire upon them when they approached to 
within a quarter of a mile of the town. The river divided the two 
forces. Colonel Lewis crossed with his command on the ice, and 
drove the enemy from the houses and pickets, where they were 
posted, into the woods. There they made a stand, until they were 
again dispersed and forced to retreat, under a continual charge 
ftom their pursuers. At dark, the detachment was drawn off and 
encamped on the spot from whence they had dislodged the enemy. 
The vanquished consisted of a combined force of one hundred 
British soldiers and four hundred Indians, under command of Ma- 
jor Reynolds. Success was complete. The report of this achiev- 
ment at Gen. Winchester's head quarters, created an excitement 
there among the troops, which could only be satisfied by their 
marching forthwith to join Colonel Lewis. Winchester yielded 
to the desire of his officers and men. He joined Lewis on the 20th 
of January, with two hundred and fifty men, and took command. 
On the morning of the 2-2nd, at daybreak, the American camp was 
attacked by the British and Indians. The number of the assail- 
ants was somewhere about fifteen hundred. The American force 
only eight hundred. The attack was made by a heavy fire of mus- 
ketry and field pieces. It was made so suddenly and unexpected- 
ly, that there. was no time for forming the troops advantageously ; 
to this difficulty, was added the unfavorable nature of the ground. 
The assault was sustained with great firmness and bravery for some 
time, when the right division of the forces, which was terribly ex- 
posed in an open field to a heavy fire, was ordered to retreat, with 
the object of occupying ground less exposed. This movement was 
discovered by the enemy, and the entire Indian force, with a 
portion of the militia, directed their efforts to break them and 
throw them nto disorder Bv their superiority in numbers, they 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 57 

succeeded in preventing this part of our forces from again forming 
in order for battle. Indeed, few of this division escaped ; they 
were surrounded by Indians, and gallantly fought until their num- 
bers were so reduced, that they were forced to surrender. A Ma- 
jor, Captain, and about twenty-five soldiers only escaped. While 
attempting to reform this division into line, Gen. Winchester and 
Colonel Lewis were surrounded and taken prisoners. The troops 
who remained at the breastwork, defended themselves with despe- 
ration against fearful odds. It became evident to Gen. Winches- 
ter and his officers, that a continuance of the contest against the 
superior numbers of the enemy, was but an unjustifiable sacrifice 
of the brave men, whose ranks were continually growing thinner. 
It was resolved to surrender the few that remained, as prisoners of 
war, on condition that their lives should be spared, and their pri- 
vate property protected. The truth was, that no alternative re- 
mained but surrender or general massacre. The ammunition was 
nearly exhausted, the enemy were concentrating their forces with 
a view to burn the town, and it was declared that no attempts 
would be made by the British officers to restrain the ferocity of 
the savages, who surrounded the place in great numbers. Under 
these circumstances Gen. Winchester surrendered. 

In this conflict many feats of noble daring were performed by 
officers and men. The enemy had taken possession of a barn, 
within rifle shot of the American camp ; here they were perfectly 
sheltered, while they fired into our pickets. It became important 
to dislodge them from their safe position. A single soldier under- 
took the task, and with almost a certainty of sacrificing himself, 
rushed from the pickets, with a lighted torch, to the barn, and set 
it on fire. The barn was consumed. The heroic volunteer had 
the good fortune to return in safety to the camp, amid a shower of 
balls from the enemy's muskets. 

Every promise made by the British commander was violated. 
The Indians gratified their bloody propensity without restraint. 
Some of their prisoners after the surrender, were tomahawked; 
some were shot, others were tortured and burned alive by the sav- 
ages. The houses of our people were pillaged and destroyed. 
The prisoners who were not killed, were treated in the most inhu- 
man manner by the Indians, in the presence of British officers, and 



58 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

no remonstrance or effort was made to restrain them. In violation 
of oft-repeated assurances from Col. Proctor, that the prisoners, 
particularly the wounded, should be provided for as their necessities 
required, and be conveyed in sleighs from the Raisin to Maiden, 
they were placed in charge of the ruthless and exasperated savages. 
They were made to travel on foot through deep snow : and those 
who were unable from their wounds to keep pace with the swift 
footed tormentors, were tomahawked and scalped, and left by the 
roadside unburied. Among the wounded was Capt. Nathaniel 
Hart, of Kentucky ; a near relative of Henry Clay. This officer 
was captured after being wounded in the knee. He was not able 
to move, and at the request of an officer was mounted on horseback. 
While thus situated, and actually under the protection of a British 
officer, an Indian near by fired at him, and hit him on the head. 
He did not, however, fall from his seat, until another Indian struck 
him on the head with a club, and beat him to the ground ; he was 
then scalped, stripped of his clothing, and left on the ground, until 
under cover of night, two days afterwards, his body was taken in- 
to the woods by three of the inhabitants, and covered with brush 
wood to protect it from mutilation by the hogs. The men did not 
dare to bury the corpse for fear of the Indians. The rights of se- 
pulture for the dead of our army were forbidden by the inhuman 
Proctor, and their bodies remained exposed for the horrid feastings 
of dogs and hogs. Bodies which had been stealthily buried were 
exhumed by the red fiends. When the Kentucky volunteers, in 
the latter part of the same year, marched over the scene of massa- 
cre to join Gen. Harrison in pursuit of Proctor, they were greeted 
with the view of the bleached remains of their relatives and friends, 
still whitening on the ground. They gathered them together and 
buried them with the honors of war. 

Many of the prisoners who escaped the tomahawk of the sav- 
age, were subsequently purchased of their Indian captors by the 
citizens of Detroit, and liberated. Gen. Winchester and his offi- 
cers were taken to Quebec. 

On the day succeeding the battle, the Indians continued their 
atrocities. In one instance they set fire to a house in which were 
forty-eight prisoners Some of these unfortunate men, attempting 
to escape, were shot down as they appeared at the door ; others 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 5D 

were driven back and killed in the house, and were consumed 
with it. 

A citizen while going to his house alone and unarmed, was fired 
at and wounded. He was able to reach home : his father-in-law 
opened the door to let him in ; he just got within the house .when 
he fell dead upon the floor. The Indians who shot him followed 
immediately, and reaching the house demanded admission. The 
door was opened by the old man, who was instantly shot down by 
the Indians. 

Dr. Gustavus M. Bower, surgeon's mate in the fifth regiment 
Kentucky volunteers, who was in the house of Jean Baptiste Je- 
reaume with the wounded prisoners, states that on the morning 
after the battle, about daylight, six or eight Indians came to the 
house. They sauntered about without molesting any one, until 
their number was increased to two hundred, when they commenc- 
ed plundering the inhabitants and killing the wounded. Dr. Bow- 
er was seized by an Indian, divested of a part of his clothing, and 
taken and placed upon a horse a short distance off, with orders 
from his captors to remain there. From this spot he watched the 
actions of the Indians. He saw Captain Hickman knocked down 
with several other?, at the door. Supposing from this that a gen- 
eral massacre was to take place, he attempted to reach a house, 
about one hundred yards distant, to give the persons confined there 
warning of their danger. Approaching the house, he saw that it 
was surrounded by Indians, and was thus precluded from effecting 
his purpose. His presence was at this moment discovered by an 
Indian chief, named McCarty, who came up to him and delivered 
his horse and blanket to him, and told him to go back to the house 
he had left. The Indian who first captured Bower now came up 
and raised his tomahawk to kill him, but was prevented by McCar- 
ty. Dr. Bovver then obeyed McCarty's orders, and when he reach- 
ed the house, saw the Indians leading away some prisoners, whom 
he afterwards saw lying in the road, horribly mangled and naked. 
Bower and several others were then collected around a cariole 
which was filled with plunder. One of the men named BIythe, en- 
deavored to persuade his captor to take him to Maiden, for which 
he offered him fifty dollars. While making this agreement, anoth- 
er Indian stepped up behind BIythe and tomahawked, scalped and 



60 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

Stripped him. Bower's attention was then attracted to the burn- 
ing houses, vvhich he knew contained prisoners who were unable 
to get away. The houses being nearly consumed, the Indians 
marched off with Bower and a few others. At Sandy Creek they 
stopped and prepared food. They were eating, when an Indian 
proposed to Searl, one of the prisoners, to exchange his moccasins 
for Searl's shoes, which he did. They then exchanged hats, and 
the Indian struck Searl upon the shoulder with his tomahawk ; 
cutting into his body. Searl caught hold of the weapon and at- 
tempted to resist ; but, seeing that his fate was inevitable, he closed 
his eyes and quietly awaited the fatal blow, which clave his skull 
in two. Soon after, three others shared the same fate. Bower 
was soon after taken to Detroit and ransomed by the citizens of 
that place. Many other instances might be given of the sufferings 
of the prisoners taken at the River Raisin; but sufficient have been 
narrated to show the unparalleled barbarity of Indian warriors when 
conquerors, and to afford the means of estimating the great diffi- 
culties and trying circumstances attendant upon the exercise of 
power and authority over them in time of peace. 

At the massacre of Frenchtown, perished many of the noblest 
sons of Kentucky. Scarce a family of note, in that patriotic 
State, but bewailed the loss of a beloved relative. At Frankfort, 
the Governor and many of the citizens were at the theatre when 
the sad news of Winchester's defeat reached there. The whole 
audience at once, by one impulse, retired to learn the details of 
the calamity. Presently fathers were seen going about half dis- 
tracted, and mothers, wives and sisters, were weeping in the re- 
tirement of their homes. The voice of lamentation was heard in 
nearly every dwelling. But like Hull's surrender, this second 
disaster contributed to increase the ardor of the people for revenge. 
While they mourned for the dead, they resolved to revenge their 
sacrifice. 

When Gen. Harrison was informed that Winchester had ad- 
vanced towards Frenchtown, he immediately prepared to join him 
with a re-inforcement. Having proceeded about six miles, and 
ascertained that Winchester's defeat was complete, he resolved to 
return. A detachment of one hundred and seventy men was sent 
forward to Frenchtown, with directions to proceed as far as pes- 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 61 . 

ble to assist those who were fortunate enough to escape — these 
were very few — the great depth of snow prevented their getting 
far in advance of their pursuers. They were overtaken and cap- 
tured. 

Immediately after the aifair of Frenchtown, General Harrison 
marched his army to the rapids of the Miami, where I^ construct- 
ed Fort Meigs. Here, in May, 1818, he was besieged by two 
thousand British and Indians, under Proctor and Tecumseh. The 
bombardment by land and water continued several days. The 
enemy first appeared on the 25th of April, and on the 9th of May 
were repulsed, routed, and forced to abandon the siege. Having 
ascertained that they had left the vicinity. Gen. Harrison left Fort 
Meigs under charge of Gen. Green Clay, and marched to Lower 
Sandusky. 

Remaining there a short time, he proceeded to Franklinton, 
where the soldiers were to assemble to prosecute the campaign, 
and retake the territory lost by Gen. Hull. Major Croghan, a 
young officer of the regular army, was left with one hundred and 
sixty men at Lower Sandusky, in garrison at Fort Stephenson. 
Here he was attacked lay a large force under Proctor, and with but 
a single cannon, repulsed them completely. An account of thjg 
siege, though familiar to the reader, is worthy of repetition if it 
[jC only to commemorate the invincible courage of the young com- 
mander and his youthful companions. 

On Sunday evening, August 1st, 1813, six hundred British reg- 
ulars, and from seven to eight hundred Indians, under the imme- 
diate command of Proctor, appeared before Fort Stephenson. He 
made such disposition of his troops as effectually to cut off the re- 
treat of the garrison if they should attempt one. He then sent 
Col. Elliott and Major Chambers to demand the surrender of the 
Fort, with the stereotyped assertion that "he was anxious to -spare 
the effusion of blood, which would be out of his power to effect if 
he should be compelled to take the fort by storm." 

Croghan's reply was, that he was determined to defend the place 
to the last extremity, and that no force, however large, should m- 
duce him to surrender. This reply being communicated to Proc- 
tor, he commenced a brisk fire upon the fort from^his gunboats in 



62 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. * 

the river, and a howitzer on shore. The fire was kept up through 
the night with but little effect. At an early hour the next morn- 
ing, three six-pounders, which, in the night, had been placed on 
shore within two hundred and fifty yards of the pickets, opened 
their fire, but with no great effect. From the raanceuvres of Proc- 
tor, Croghan judged that he would attempt taking it by storming 
it at its northwest angle. With the best means in his power, he 
strengthened the point of anticipated assault. He had divined 
the intentions of Proctor. Finding that his guns were ineffectu- 
al, Proctor formed his men into two columns. Lieut. Col. Short 
led the principal one, of one hundred and fifty men, and advanced 
to within twenty paces of the lines. The garrison opened a de- 
structive fire upon them, which threw them into confusion. They 
were quickly rallied by their leader, and again advancing, leaped 
into the ditch; just then the single six»pounder of the fort was 
brought into requisition, A fire of grape was poured from it 
which killed or wounded nearly every man who had entered the 
ditch. The fall of the advance threw the balance of the column 
into such disorder and fear, that their officers were unable to lally 
them. They retired and sought safety in the adjoining woods. 
During the assault, a fire was kept up against the fort, from five 
six-pounders and a howitzer. The "only loss sustained by the gar- 
rison was, one man killed, one wounded. The loss of the enemy 
was at least one hundred and fifty. In the ditch were found kill- 
ed, Lieut. Col. Short, one Lieutenant and fifty soldiers. Early on 
the morning of the 3d, the enemy sailed down the river, leaving 
behind them a boat containing clothing and military stores and se- 
veral stand of arms. 

The defence of this fort was a desperate undertaking. The 
adventurous bravery and daring resolution of the young com- 
mander, achieved what the wisdom of more experienced officers 
would have decided to be impossible. It was truly a forlorn hope 
for that brave band of youths in their illy protected fort, to expect 
even to survive the determined attack of their enemies. The pick- 
ets were eighteen feet high; the bayonets of the soldiers were nail- 
ed upon the side of the upper end, pointing downwards. The 
charge of the enemy evinced a disposition to conquer the post 



* LIFE OF GENEKAL CASS. 63 

at all hazards. In the course of twenty-four hours, they dischar- 
ged five hundred shots, one hundred of which fell within the fort, 
happily doing no injury. 

Amoncr the incidents of the brilliant defence, showing the confi- 
dence of the enemy in obtaining an easy victory, was the inso- 
lence of the Indian allies previous to the charge. When Elliott 
went to demand the surrender of the fort, he was received outside 
the pickets by Ensign Shipp. While conversing, one of Elliott's 
Indians came up, and taking hold of Shipp, attempted to take off 
his coat. Shipp drove him off with his sword. The Indian was 
certain there would be a capitulation, and pleased with Shipp's 
coat, intended to secure it for himself, in advance. The enemy 
intended to punish with outrageous barbarity, the refusal of Col. 
Croghan to surrender. The threat made by Elliott, that if they 
were compelled to take the fort, there would be a general massa- 
cre, would have been realized, had the event of the day been favora- 
ble to the besiegers. Col. Short, who led the attack, was not less 
bloody minded than Proctor and his agents. As he advanced to 
storm the fort, he shouted to his men " to give the Americans no 
quarters." 

Scarcely had he given utterance to the savage order, when he 
was laid prostrate by a shot from the fort. The man who would 
refuse quarters, found himself a supplicant for the kindness which 
he had resolved to deny to others. The men who were ordered to 
give "no quarters," were relieved and treated with the utmost 
kindness by the soldiers in the garrison ; who, while the fire was 
kept up against them, supplied the suffering and wounded enemy 
with water from their own canteens. 

This victory, for such it may truly be termed, was hailed with 
joy and gratification. It was the turning point of the war in this 
section, and was the precursor of decisive and important success, 
which followed closely upon it, resulting in drivmg the enemy from 
his strong holds, and planting the American standard, both upon 
regained and conquered territory. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Reception of Col. Cass at Washington — His promotion — Confidence of the Gov- 
ernment in him — Is apppointed Brigadier General — He joins the army under 
Harrison — Harrison assigns to Gen. Cass the command of the army at its de- 
barkation on the Canada shore — Proctor's flight — Movements of the army in 
Canada — Battle of the Thames — Gen. Cass, with Com, Perry, acting as aids to 
Gen. Harrison — Defeat and flight of Proctor— Is pursued by Gen. Cass — Har- 
rison's testimony to the personal exertions and bravery of Gen. Cass — Gen. 
Cass is left by Harrison m command at Detroit — Is appointed Governor of the 
Territory by President Madison — The responsibility of his Ofllce — His quali- 
fications — The attachment of the Citizens of the Territory — His journey to 
Albany in midv.inter. 

Colonel Cass, on repairing to Washington, on his parole, was 
received by the administration with the favor due to his distin- 
guished services, in Canada and Michigan. He held in Hull's ar- 
my the rank of Colonel of militia. The administration conferred 
upon him a Colonelcy in the regular service. About the same time 
he was also elected by the volunteers of Ohio a Major General of 
militia. He could not, however, at that time, take an active part 
in the war. He was not enabled to do so until after the commence- 
ment of the year 1843. At the time of his appointment as Colo- 
nel, so great was the confidence of the government in his ability 
-and judgment, that he was permitted to select his own officers for 
the regiment to be placed under his command. For this purpose, 
blank commissions were issued to him by the War Department. 
Col. Cass was exchanged and released from his parole in the mid- 
dle of January, 1813. The rank of Brigadier General was con- 
ferred upon him in March following. In April, the United States 
was divided into nine military districts, and General Cass, with 
Gens. Harrison and McArthur, was a.ssigned to the command of the 
eighth division, composed of Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, 
Illinois and Missouri. 

In pursuance of his appointment, he left Washington for the 
west, to join in the patriotic movements there, among the volun- 
teers, and attach himself to the command of Major General Harri- 
son. An expedition against Maiden was contemplated. General 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 66 

Harrison was at Senecatown, avvuitinofthe arrival of the Erie flotil- 
la, under Perry, to carry his army to Canada. On the 20th of 
September, 1813, the army, two thousand regulars and three thou- 
sand militia, embarked. They reached the Canadian shore, a few 
miles below Maiden, and landed on the 27th of the same month. 
To Gen. Cass was assigned, by Gen. Harrison, the charge of the 
army at their debarkation from the vessels. He formed the troops 
into line and arranged them for their march upon Maiden. The 
following is a part of the general order, addressed to the soldiers : 
*' Kentuckians — remember the river Raisin ; but remember it only 
when the victory is suspended. The revenge of a soldier cannot 
be gratified upon a fallen enemy." 

Within an hour after landing, the American force took posses- 
sion of the town. Gen. Proctor, who was in command of the Bri- 
tish army, retreated up the Detroit river, carrying with him every 
thing moveable. Before leaving, he burned the fort, navy-yard, 
barracks, and public store houses. 

This sudden flight, betraying cowardice in Proctor, served, in 
some degree, to alienate his Indian allies. Tecumseh, and other 
warriors, were indignant that no resistance was to be attempted. 
In the name of all the chiefs and warriors, Tecumseh addressed a 
"talk" to Proctor, in which he used plain language to express his 
displeasure at the treatment they had received. 

Gen. Harrison's army were entirely destitute of means of pursu- 
ing, expeditiously, the retreating eneniy. Proctor had laid the 
country under contribution, and collected upwards of one thousand 
horses for the use of his flying army The only horse in our army 
at the time, was a small French pony, devoted to the use of the 
venerable Gov. Shelby, of Kentucky, who was then sixty-five years 
of age, but as full of military ardor and laudable desire for revenge, 
as any of the young officers around him. On the 29th September, 
Gen. Harrison moved up to Sandwich, opposite Detroit, crossed 
over and took possession of the town and territory. He was warm- 
ly welcomed by the poor and oppressed inhabitants, who had been 
so long subjected to the tyranny and robbery of their enemies. He 
issued his proclamation reinstating the civil government which 
had been interrupted by Hull's surrender. The oflicers who were, 

at the capitulation, exercising authority within the territory, were 
5 



66 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

i 

authorized to resume their functions ; the citizens were restored 
to the enjoyment of their former rights and privileges, and the laws 
at that time in force, were re-established. On the 30th of Sept., 
Col. R. M. Johnson arrived at Detroit, with his regiment of mount- 
ed men. With these Gen. Harrison joined his army at Sandwich, 
and begun his pursuit after Proctor's army. By rapid marches, 
diversified by skirmishes with parties of the enemy, he overtook 
Proctor near the Moravian town, on the river Thames, in Canada, 
eighty miles from Detroit. On the evening of the 5th of October, 
he forced the enemy to fight, and achieved a complete victory over 
the combined British and Indian forces. 

The road by which the I\Ioraviau town was reached, at about 
the distance of three miles from the settlement ran through a dense 
beech forest, and for most of the way near the bank of the river 
Thames. A swamp ran parallel with the river, distant from it a 
few hundred yards. The ground between is high and dry. Across 
this strip of land the British and Indian forces were drawn up when 
Harrison came up with them. The American army was then form- 
ed for attack. Gen. Trotter's brigade formed the front line, his 
right upon the road, his left upon the swamp. Gen. King's brig- 
ade, as a second line, one hundred and fifty yards in the rear of 
Trotter's, and Child's brigade as a corps of reserve in the rear ot 
it. These three brigades were commanded by Major General 
Kincr. The whole of Gen. Desha's division, of two brigades, was 
formed upon the left of Trotter. Col. Johnson's regiment of 
mounted men were drawn up in close column, its right some fifty 
yards from the road, its left upon the swamp. The duty of this 
regiment was to charge at full speed upon the enemy, with the 
bayonet, as soon as they discharged their fire. This was a new 
mancEUvre in military tactics suggested by the exigency of the oc- 
casion, and was eminently successful. 

A few regulars of the twenty-seventh regiment, under Col. Paul, 
occupied, in column of sections of four, the small space between 
the road and the river, for the purpose of seizing the enemy's ar- 
tillery. The crochet formed by the front line and Gen. Desha's 
division, was an important point. At this spot. Gov. Shelby was 
posted. Gen. Harrison, with his aids Gen. Cass, Com. Perry and 
Capt. Butler, took station at the head of the front line of infantry 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 67 

• The army moved in this order a short distance, when the mounted 
men received the British fire, and were ordered to charge; the hor- 
ses in the front of the column recoiled from the fire ; another was 
given by the enemy, and the column getting in motion broke 
through the enemy with irresistible force. In one minute the con- 
test in front was over. The enemy were unable to re-form their 
disordered ranks, and our mounted men charging upon them with 
destructive effect, they soon surrendered. The contest on the left 
flank was more severe and longer in duration. Col. R. M. John- 
son there engaged with the Indians, who poured upon him a gall- 
ing fire, which he returned with great effect. A part of the In- 
dian force advanced and attacked our front line of infantry, near 
its junction with Desha's division. They made a temporary im- 
pression upon it, but Gov. Shelby came up with a regiment, and, 
the enemy being fired upon, both in front and in rear, made a pre- 
cipitate retreat, in which many of them were killed. Col. Johnson 
was severely wounded, but as a recompense for his sufferings^ 
which were protracted, he has the credit awarded him by his coun- 
trymen, of killing, in personal combat, during the fight, the cele- 
brated chief and warrior, Tecuraseh. The American army amoun- 
ted to about three thousand men, superior in numbers it is true, to 
the enemy, but the latter had the advantage in having the choice 
of ground and time in arrangement of the line of battle. Of the 
exact force opposed to Harrison, there is no satisfactory account. 
It is certain that just before Proctor fled from Maiden, he had 
there at least three thousand Indians, but great numbers, disgusted 
with his pusillanimity, leftliim. His force at the Moravian town 
was at least two thousand. The white prisoners captured were 
more than six hundred in number ; not many British soldiers were 
killed. The slaughter among the Indians was much greater; they 
fought with greater bravery, and sacrificed themselves for the be- 
nefit of their civilized but unnatural allies. Among the trophies 
of this victory, there were taken a number of field pieces, and se- 
veral thousand small arms. Most of the latter and two of the for- 
mer were those taken from Gen. Hull. Excepting one standard, all 
the emblems of conquest acquired during the campaign by the 
British, were re-captured. Among the prisoners, were all the su- 
perior officers of the British army but Gen. Proctor. He made 



^8 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

his escape with some dragoons and mounted Indians, and although 
extraordinary efforts were made to capture him, they were unsuc- 
cessful. In this battle were many, conspicuous for deeds of per- 
sonal bravery. Gen. Cass was prominent among those,* who by 
individual exertions deserved and received honorable commenda- 
tion from the commanding General. As one of the confidential 
staff of Gen. Harrison, he rendered important service in forming 
the lines for battle. The difficulty in the performance of this du- 
ty, which is always highly responsible, was enhanced by the nature 
of the ground. Woods, marshes, and streams surrounded them, 
and it required all the knowledge and discretion of a military vete- 
ran, and which Gen. Cass possessed in an eminent degree, to put 
our forces in advantageous positions. 

Gen. Cass led the pursuit after Proctor, who had fled at the first 
moment of encounter. He was not able to take the flying Gene- 
ral, and had to remain satisfied with the capture of his carriage, 
baggage, and papers relating to the operations of the enemy, the 
possession of which, from their disclosures, was considered of no 
small consequence. 

Gen. Harrison's official account of this battle does justice to the 
brave men engaged in it. He speaks in terms of the highest en- 
comium of Gen. Cass, and acknowledges the valuable aid derived 
from his presence and exertions. By order of Gen. Harrison a 
part of Cass' brigade remained at Sandwich, with directions to fol- 
low when their baggage should arrive from the lake, where it had 
been left. "Having no command," says Gen. Harrison, " he ten- 
dered me his assistance." "I have alfeady stated that Gen. Cass 
and Com. Perry assisted me in forming the troops for action. The 
former is an officer of the greatest merit ; and the appearance of 
the brave Commodore cheered and animated every breast." 

This decisive and brilliant victory was the cause of rejoicing 
throughout the Union. It was indeed a triumph. The enemy 
were driven from the northwestern frontier. Previous to the bat- 
tle of the Thames, Gen. Harrison invested Detroit with a detach- 
ment of his army. Soon after the battle an armistice was conclu- 
ded with the hostile Indians, and Gen. Harrison sailed down the 
lake to Buffalo with about thirteen hundred troops. Gen. Cass 
was left in command at Detroit. No military movement, of note. 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 69 

occurred during the winter of 1813. The Indians having lost 
their great leader, Tecuiiiseh, were generally disposed to remain 
quiet and seek alliance with our people. 

In October, 1313, Gen. Cass accepted, from President Madison, 
the appointment of Governor of the Territory of Michigan. The 
Government felt it a duty to bestow some distinguished evidence 
of approbation upon one who had rendered his country such sig- 
nal service in time of need. Nothing seemed more appropriate 
than the bestowment upon him of civil authority over the Terri- 
tory in whose defence he had periled his life. This appointment 
was not sought for by Gen. Cass, and he reluctantly decided upon 
accepting it. Nor did he do so, until he was entreated to, comply 
with the desire of the President, by the inhabitants of that remote 
territory, who, upon learning the intentions of the Executive, with 
one voice joined in the request that he would become their Gov- 
ernor. In his campaign among them he had, by his soldierly frank- 
ness and bravery, his promptness in the hour of emergency, his 
courteous and pleasing manners, won their respect and attachment. 
He yielded to their persuasions, and, early in the winter of the 
same year, he removed with his family from Ohio to Detroit. 

The responsibilities whicii he now assumed, were of the most 
trying and arduous character. Located in a distant frontier, sur- 
rounded by thousands of warlike savages, whose friendship could 
not be relied on, the inhabitants were in constant fear of attacks 
from them. For two years subsequent to his assuming the govern- 
ment of the territory, there were frequent outbreaks of hostilities 
by the savages, arising from their inordinate and unconquerable 
propensity to rob, plunder, and murder the defenceless. To pre- 
vent serious consequences resulting from these outbreaks, required 
continual watchfulness and management on the part of the Gov- 
ernor. He was often compelled to put himself at the head of par- 
ties of armed citizens and soldiers, to resist these predatory incur- 
sions of the Indians. On these occasions he was frequently expo- 
sed to imminent personal danger ; but the same courage and am- 
bition to lead, which characterized him when commanding our 
forces against regular and disciplined troops, attended him in the 
Indian hunt. These Indians could not voluntarily desist from 
committing depredations upon the property of the whites. At the 



70 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

instance of the Governor, the United States furnished a small sup- 
ply of arms and ammunition for the use of the citizens to defend 
themselves against the attacks of the Indians. The woods near 
and around the city of Detroit afforded them convenience for re- 
treat and shelter. Frequently the inhabitants would assemble en 
masse, armed with such weapons as they possessed; and led by the 
Governor, would march on expeditions against their tormentors. 
The Indians would almost always succeed in avoiding a combat 
with their pursuers. Once, just after the commission of a most 
cruel and daring outrage, a party was formed for the purpose of 
driving away into the interior, the Indians who infested the vicinity 
of Detroit. With the Governor commanding, they marched to the 
Indian camp, but on arriving there, they found it deserted. Search- 
ing the forest, they caught sight of the Indians retreating. The 
pursuing party being on horses, were impeded by the trees and un- 
derbrush, and the Indians escaped to the river Rouge, where they 
plundered and maltreated the settlers. From there they were 
driven by the Governor and his party, and fled by a circuitous route 
and encamped about twenty miles north of Detroit, and from there 
they were at last forced to retreat to Saginaw. 

The determined spirit of the settlers to punish them for these 
outrages, had the effect of rendering them less troublesome ; yet, 
for many years after the war, they continued to annoy the inhabi- 
tants. They were sometimes tried for their offences in the terri- 
torial courts. At the September term, in 1820, of the supreme 
court of the territory of Michigan, two Indians were arraigned and 
tried. Ke-wa-bish-kim, for the murder of a trader at Green Bay, 
named Ulric, and Ke-taw-kah, for killing Dr. Madison, of the ar- 
my. The former was first put on trial. Two interpreters were 
sworn, one to interpret English into French; another from French 
into Chippewa; but the Indians not understanding that language, a 
hoy was sworn to interpret into the Menominee tongue. Ke-wa- 
bish-kim was asked if he knew why he was brought there. He 
said he did not. The Judge said, he wished to know why the In- 
dian was there; he had not read the indictment, nor did he wish or 
intend to : he would rather not look at it. Two lawyers present, 
then examined the indictment, and informed the Judge, that the 
Indian was there for the murder of a Frenchman at Green Bay. 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 71 

The Indian was then told, by the boy, why he was there. He said 
he knew that. The interpreter was then told to as|c the Indian if 
he was ready for trial. The boy could not put this question, be- 
cause there was no such word as trial in the Menominee language. 
The Judge told him, to ask the Indian "if he is willing to pass 
before twelve men." He replied that he was. On being asked if 
he had any witnesses, he said he wanted the Indian who gave him 
the knife. Counsel were assigned to defend him. He said he 
wanted four nights to prepare, and that they might take pity on 
him and give him his liberty. The Judge granted the time, and 
told him the court would be his friends, and do all they could to 
clear him. He was then remanded to prison. 

On the following day, Ke-taw-kah was brought into court. His 
fetters were taken off, by order of one of the Judges, who said it 
was wrong for any one to appear in court in that manner. Pro- 
ceedings similar to those in the caseof Ke-wa-bish-kim took place. 
One of the Judges directed that the counsel for the government 
should stand up and be pointed out to the Indian. To this they 
objected, as they did not desire to be made liable to the prisoner's 
resentment, in case of his acquittal. After several days discus- 
sion upon points of practice, law, &c., the Indians were tried and 
convicted, and sentence of death passed upon them. Thursday 
Dec. 27th, 1821, was the day appointed for their execution. While 
in jail, they prepared themselves after their own customs, to meet 
their fate. All the tobacco, pipes and other articles they could 
procure, were laid aside as an offering for the great Spirit. By 
drawino- a piece of leather over the vessel which contained their 
drink, they made a kind of drum, around which, having painted 
themselves black, they danced their death dance. With some red 
paint which was given to them, they drew upon the walls of their 
cell figures of men, beasts and reptiles, and on their blankets paint- 
ed the figure of an Indian, suspended by the neck. They acknowl- 
edged the justice of their fate, and that they deserved the punish- 
ment that awaited them. The gallows was erected in a spot where 
it was visible to them from the jail ; and though they knew it was 
intended for them, it excited no expression of dread or fear of death. 
They had made up their minds to meet their doom with true In- 



72 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

dian fortitude, and on the day before their execution, were as 
cheerful and contented as at any time of their imprisonment. 

On the day of execution they were taken from the jail to the 
Protestant church, where an appropriate discourse was delivered 
to a large assemblage, by Mr. J. P. Hudson, of the Mission. They 
were then taken to the gallows, which they ascended with firm- 
ness and composure. They shook hands with their counsel, and 
a few others, who stood near, and asked pardon of the spectators 
for the crimes they had committed. They then shook hands with 
each other, the caps were then drawn over their faces, and the final 
act of the solemn scene consummated. 

Murders, not alone of whites, but of their own people, were fre- 
quently committed by the Indians. Being almost at all times drunk, 
it is not to be wondered at, that they so easily and so often imbru- 
ed their hands in human blood. In the winter of 182G, in the af- 
ternoon of a day in January, a Chippewa was found in the street, 
in Detroit, nearly dead from a cut in his head with a tomahawk. 
Kish-kaw-ko — a notorious war chief, dreaded for his many and 
atrocious murders, was suspected of the crime. H;' was sought 
after, and found, with his son, Big Beaver ; the latter had his fath- 
er's tomahawk, which was stained with blood. When he was ar- 
rested, he said the blood was from some meat he had been cutting. 
Both of them went quietly to prison, on being told it was Governor 
Cass' wish they should go there. The Coroner's jury found a ver- 
dict against Big Beaver, as the principal in the murder, and Kish- 
kaw-ko as accessory. The Indians remained in jail until May, 
when Ki^sh. was found one morning dead in his cell. A jury of 
inquest returned a verdict of natural death, but from circumstan- 
ces afterwards ascertained, it was rendered probable that he poi- 
soned himself The night before, one of his wives brought him a 
small cup, and went away. Soon after a number of Indians called 
to see him, and held a long conference, and when they went away, 
took leave of him with great solemnity and affection. After they 
left, Kish. asked the jailor to give him liquor, a request which he 
never before made. At an early hour the next morning, the peo- 
ple who visited him the previous evening, came and asked to see 
him. When they found him dead, they appeared delighted, and 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 73 

as if gratified to find their expectations realized. All but a few 
of his band started immediately for Saginaw. Those who remain- 
ed, performed the funeral ceremonies. He was buried by moon- 
light, on a farm near the city. 

He was one of the most ferocious and savage chiefs of modern 
times. His influence with his people was great, although he was 
unpopular. He was tall and athletic, and of great decision of 
character. He was attended by a large retinue when he visited 
Detroit — was peculiar for carrying his war axe upon his left arm, 
tightly grasped with his right hand, as if in expectation of striking. 
His despotism may be learned from the following occurrence at 
Saginaw : — One of his band killed another. The friends of the 
victim were clamorous for revenge. The murderer's friends were 
desirous of saving him from their vengeance, and negotiated for 
his life. The conditions were agreed upon, and the property of- 
fered in fulfilment of the bargain was about to be delivered, when 
Kish. stepped up and struck the murderer dead with his tomahawk. 
When asked why he interrupted their proceedings and interfered 
with their lawful agreements, he merely replied, "the law is al- 
tered." 

Big Beaver, like his father, was a powerful and muscular sav- 
age ; and one day when the jailor's son went to see him in his cell, 
just as he opened the door. Big Beaver seized him, thrust him in- 
side, locked the door, and escaped to the woods. He was never 
re-taken, but was not long after drowned in Saginaw Bay. 

The number of inhabitants of the Territory did not exceed four 
thousand, and they were principally the descendants of the early 
French settlers. They looked up to the Governor for advice and 
assistance in every emergency, feeling assured that in him they 
had found a personal friend, in whom their confidence was not 

c 

misplaced. 

Gen. Cass was pre-eminently qualified for the responsible sta- 
tion to which the President had appointed him. His experience 
of frontier life — his indomitable spirit of overcoming difficulties, 
which would have paralyzed the efforts of a man of less determi- 
nation, were precisely the qualities needed in whoever should oc- 
cupy the important office of Governor of Michigan. 

In those days, Detroit, and the few other settlements in Michi- 



74 LIFE OF GENERAL CASb. 

gan, were looked upon as mere trading posts. They were to a 
great extent cut off from intercourse with the settled parts of the 
United States. The inhabitants were sparsely settled along the 
margin of the principal rivers and the lakes, and their attachment 
to old customs and manners, their uniform adherence to the path 
which their ancestors had trodden, were obstacles in the way of 
the rapid increase of population, or of bringing to the notice of 
the eastern world the really fruitful resources contained within the 
territorial limits. 

The territory of Michigan previous to 1805, and after posses- 
sion was obtained from the British in 1T96, was a part of the ter- 
ritorial organization known as "the territory of the United States 
northwest of the Ohio river;" this was governed by the ordinance 
of 1787, and was then in the first grade of territorial government 
as prescribed by that ordinance ; that is, its civil officers, were a 
Governor, Secretary, and three Judges. The Governor and Judg- 
es, or a majority of them, were empowered to adopt such laws of 
the original States, civil and criminal, as might be necessary and 
best suited to the circumstances of the district. This proceeding 
was subject to revision by Congress. In the year 1798, the north- 
western territory entered into the second grade of territorial gov- 
ernment, in which a general assembly or legislature is added to 
the rantre of civil officers. To entitle a district to be represented 
in this body, it was necessary that there should be in the district 
five thousand free male inhabitants of full age; for every five hun- 
dred free male inhabitants, one representative was allowed. Mich- 
igan was represented that year by one representative in the gene- 
ral assembly at Chillicothe. 

In January, 1805, Indiana was erected into a separate govern- 
ment, and the residue of the Northwest Territory was divided into 
the Illinois and Michigan territories. On the first of July of the 
same year, the territorial government of Michigan was organized 
at Detroit, by Gen. Hull, who had been recently appointed Gov- 
ernor. At this time, the quantity of land within the newly organ- 
ized territory, at the actual disposal of the government, was small ; 
principally embraced east of a line running from the river Raisin 
to Lake St. Clair, at a distance of six miles from the shore of lake 
Erie and the river Detroit. At this time negotiations were com- 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 



75 



menced in relation to the titles of land. It was found that not 
more than six tracts in the whole territory were legally held by the 
claimants. Lands were held, in many instances, by grants from 
subordinate French and English officers. Improvements were 
made upon them, and some of them had been held and occupied 
for years, under this illegal and uncertain tenure. These, fortu- 
nately for the settlers, were confirmed to them by legal grant from 
the United States. 

Gen. Hull, in 1807, held a treaty at Brownstown, and obtained 
from the Indians a further cession of their title to the lands. This 
was the first considerable extinguishment of Indian title : the 
southern boundary of the cession was the Maumee bay and river, 
and it embraced all the lands lying east of a line running north 
from the mouth of the Au Glaize, a tributary of the Miami, until 
it should intersect the parallel of the outlet of lake Huron ; thence 
extending in a northeasterly direction to White Rock, on lake 
Huron. This northerly line was afterwards adopted as the princi- 
pal meridian line for the public surveys of the territory. Subse- 
quent treaties were afterwards made with the Indian tribes, by 
Gov. Cass, which will hereafter be referred to more in detail. 

It may well be imagined, that at this time the office of Governor 
was no sinecure or one of mere honor. Although the Indians 
were in a measure overawed by the victory over Proctor at the 
Thames; had lost their leader and were deserted by their British 
allies, they were by no means friendly. Hostilities yet existed be- 
tween our country and Great Britain, and the greatest necessity ex- 
isted for the most untiring vigilance. The country which had been 
overrun by the savages, presented a scene of horror and devasta- 
tion, which it is believed has been seldom equalled in the annals 
of civilized warfare. The only route then passable between De- 
troit and the nearest settlements in Ohio, presented one continu- 
ous array of proofs of merciless and savage barbarities. The sym- 
pathies of the Governor and his family, and of the citizens of De- 
troit generally, were called into action by the sufferings and cap- 
tivity of persons who had become prisoners to the Indians during 
the war. They were treated with most extreme cruelty by their 
savage captors. Many of them were brought to Detroit by the In- 
dians, with the object of obtaining large ransom for them. All that 



76 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

could be done by the humane and generous citizens, was freely ef- 
fected. Money was paid for them : they were taken in, sheltered 
and clothed, and this, too, when most of their benefactors them- 
selves were reduced to necessity, by the ravages of war, and were 
held by the surrender of the town in a state of vassalage to British 
authority. The patriotic exertions of the people were afterwards 
remunerated by Congress, as in strict justice they deserved. 

In the winter of 1813, Gov. Cass was ordered to repair to Alba- 
ny, to give his testimony on the trial of Gen. Hull, for his conduct 
of the northwestern campaign. In company with several others 
ordered there on the same business, the Governor started from 
Detroit on Christmas day. The journey, for some distance, was 
performed on horseback, each one carrying his own provisions. 
The end of the first day's ride brought them to Brownstovvn, twen- 
ty miles from Detroit, where they encamped for the night. The 
road from Brownstown to the river Raisin, was for one-third of the 
distance, one continuous swamp. The ride was extremely wea- 
rying. In crossing the swamp, it being but slightly frozen on the 
surface, horse and rider would frequently become mired ; and the 
help of those who had been more successful, was required to ex- 
tricate them. On the evening of the third day, they reached Fort 
Meigs ; and on the next day, such was the condition of the coun- 
try, that ten miles were all they accomplished. Frequently at 
night, it happened they could not find a spot of dry ground large 
enough to accommodate their encampment. Then, each one sought 
for himself the best place to be found. The Governor would spread 
his saddle blanket at the root of a tree, where the prospect was 
most promising, and take up his lodgings for the night. The par- 
ty at that inclement season, suffered greatly from meagre fare, fa- 
tigue, and the impossibility of kindling fire, where they encamped. 
A fatiguing journey of five days, at length brought them to Sandus- 
ky Bay, where for the first time since leaving home, they had the 
comfort of a night's rest under the roof of an humble log dwelling. 
At Cleveland, they procured a sleigh and driver, and hastened on 
to Erie. From there they started for Buffalo ; on arriving there, 
they found the town in ruins, it having been burnt a few days 
previous, by the British. Gov. Cass communicated to the Secre- 
tary of War, the condition of the town and vicinity. He described 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. ' « 

it as exhibiting a scene of distress and destruction, such as he 
never before witnessed. The Governor and his companions arri- 
ved at Albany about the time of the commencement of the court 
for the trial of Gen. Hull. A gentleman, who was present at the 
time Gov. Cass was called to the stand, and who was himself one 
of the witnesses, states that when the Governor appeared and was 
sworn, Martin Van Buren, judge advocate, commenced in rather a 
flippant manner, to propound questions to him, careless of their im- 
port or pertinency. He soon learned that he had no ordinary man 
before him ; and a short experience with the Governor, as a wit- 
ness, warned the judge advocate, that a more respectful demeanor 
and more carefully formed interrogatories, were due to the distin- 
guished man whom he was examining. 



CHAPTER V. 

Colonel Cass as Governor of Michigan Territory — The arduous duties of his 
Office — Examination of Upper JMichigan — Is requested by Government to as- 
certain the disposition of the Indians in Ohio in regard to disposing of their 
Lands — Is appointed Commissioner — Concludes an important Treaty^ Urges 
the construction of a military road through Ohio — Number of Treaties made 
and concluded by Gov. Cass with Indian Tribes — Tour by way of the Lakes to 
the head-waters of the Mississippi — Leaves Detroit in an open boat — Navigates 
the Great Lakes in a canoe — Perils of the Route — Personal exposure of Govi 
Cass in resenting an insult to his Country's Flag — His determination and the 
successful results of his expedition — Is appointed to negotiate Treaties of 
Peace between hostile Tribes — Accomplishes his purpose — A novel Temper- 
ance Lecture — Treaty at Fond du Lac — Gov. Cass" address to the Pottawato- 
mies and Miamis. 

As the executive officer of Michigan, Gen. Cass found a multi- 
plicity of objects, calling for the exercise of his powers as a states- 
maa It is rarely that military skill and eminence in the civil de- 
partments of government, are found combined in the same indi- 
vidual. When they do so exist, that people may be regarded as 
truly fortunate who are placed under the government of one who 
is alike able to lead them to victory against their enemies, and de- 
vise good and wholesome laws for the protection of their civil 
rights, and the establishment of their social happiness. Such ap- 
pears to have been both the ambition and the result of Gen. Cass' 
administration. Consequent upon the ravages of war, disorder 
reigned ; it was as if order and civil government were to be insti- 
tuted de novo ; chaos changed to system and harmony. The civil 
divisions of the Territory were to be defined, courts established, 
officers and magistrates appointed, and measures commenced to 
develope the resources of the country, and attract towards it the 
attention of the inhabitants of the States. Besides all these, there 
were formidable bands of Indians within the Territory who were 
to be conciliated and induced or forced to enter into treaties of 
amity and peace. The Indian title was to be extinguished to vast 
tracts of land, not only within the Territorial limits, but else- 
where, northwest of the Ohio. A policy was to be formed and 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 79 

adopted towards these savage owners of the right of soil, which 
should become a permanent institution of the government. There 
were prejudices, too, to combat, in regard to the natural resources 
of Michigan, which had their origin in ignorance, to which, per- 
haps, may be added, the inducement of interest. 

Persons acting in an official capacity, had circulated through 
the newspapers of the day, that the interior of Michigan was one 
vast morass, entirely useless to the white man for purposes of ag- 
riculture, if not altogether inaccessible to his enterprise and pio- 
neering spirit. , 

The lands of Michigan, now well known and celebrated for their 
beautiful formation, fruitful qualities and facilities of tillage, were 
then represented as unfit to be given away. To overcome these 
unfounded and injurious prejudices, was one of the undertakings 
which Gov. Cass conceived to be his duty. For this object he 
projected and encouraged expeditions to explore and examine the 
country, himself often accompanying the expedition. 

In 1S19, an exploring expedition upon an extensive scale, having 
in view the examination of the upper country of the peninsula, 
even to the sources of the Mississippi, was projected ; and in the 
following year was undertaken and accomplished by him. Incal- 
culable benefits were derived from these enterprizes. The actual 
condition, appearance, and nature of the country, were satisfac- 
torily ascertained. His reports and notes of the route, were pub- 
lished, and brought into notice the immense prairies and openings 
of the West. Hundreds were induced to emigrate thither from 
the less fertile lands, and more laborious tillage of the East. This 
expedition and its influences, will hereafter be considered 

In 1817, it was deemed advisable by the Government to attempt 
the extinguishment of the Indian title to all the land claimed by 
them within the limits of the State of Ohio. Gov. Cass was selec- 
ted by the President to ascertain by personal interview with the 
chiefs and head men of the several tribes who claimed the lands, 
how far it would be practicable to carry into effect the wishes of 
the Government. The proceedings were left discretionary with 
the Governor. If he should find that it would be impossible or 
impolitic to endeavor to obtain all the country claimed, his nego- 



80 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

tiation was to be confined to an attempt to procure the relinquish- 
ment of a portion. 

Accordingly, in the month of April, in that year, the Governor 
proceeded to Lower Sandusky, in Ohio, to ascertain the views of 
the Indians on the subject of his mission. He learned there, that 
there was but little doubt but that the Indians would consent to 
cede a considerable portion of their country. Upon his report to 
the acting Secretary of War, a commission was issued, in the fol- 
lowing May, authorizing Gov. Cass and Gen. McArthur to nego- 
tiate a treaty. No definite instructions were given in regard to its 
provisions, further than that the commissioners should keep in 
view the desire of the Government to effect the peaceable removal 
of the Indians from the shores of Lake Erie to lands west of the 
Mississippi river. All besides was left to the judgment and discre- 
tion of the commissioners. In pursuance of this authority, Gov. 
Cass, with his associate, caused the sachems, chiefs and warriors 
of the Wyandott, Senesa, Delaware, Shawnee, Pottawatomie, Ot- 
tawa and Chippewa tribes of Indians, to assemble at Fort Meigs, 
in Ohio. 'They met them there, and on the 29th of September, 
1817, concluded and signed a treaty, by which those tribes ceded 
to the United States nearly all the land which they claimed within 
the limits of Ohio, a part in the State of Indiana, and a portion in 
the Michigan territory. This was one of the most important In- 
dian treaties ever negotiated in the United States. It attached the 
isolated population of Michigan to the five hundred thousand in- 
habitants of Ohio ; it made the territory of Michigan, in a fuller 
sense, a constituent part of the American Union, and removed, for 
ever, apprehensions that then existed, of a powerful and inimical 
confederacy among the Indian tribes. There were difficulties 
attending its successful accomplishment, which required all the ex- 
perience and sagacity of the commissioners to overcome. The 
Indians were ia a feverish state of excitement ; when the negotia- 
tion was completed, they were reluctant to part with their lands. 
They did not contemplate with any degree of pleasure, the pros- 
pect of a new home beyond the distant Mississippi. They prefer- 
red to retain their old hunting grounds, that they might linger un- 
molested amid their accustomed haunts ; around the places of their 
birth and the graves of their sires. 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 



81 



Moreover, they had become informed of the value to the United 
States, of the desired acquisition. By intercourse with our own 
people, they had learned the pecuniary value of the soil, as well 
as its importance as a connecting link, binding together our north- 
western frontier. Its acquisition, too, was rendered more difficult 
from the fact, that a greater portion of it was owned by the Wy- 
andotts, a high spirited people. It was their last possession, and 
when they parted with it, they would cease to be hunters ; they 
would have taken a step which would, as it were, blot out of ex- 
istence their character and customs as hunters and warriors. They 
were solicited to give up, absolutely, that which for ages they had 
enjoyed, and which formed the zest and charm of their existence. 
Yet, against all these obstacles, the wisdom and tact of our com- 
missioners succeeded, and the Indian title was extinguished to 
nearly four millions of acres, of a country beautiful and valuable, 
fertile, well watered, and handsomely situated. 

The value of the service rendered to the country by the negoti- 
ators of this treaty, was appreciated by the President and the Sec- 
retary of War. In the note of the War Department acknowledg- 
ing the receipt of the treaty at Washington, the Secretary says: 
"The extent of the cession far exceeds my most sanguine expect- 
ations, and there can be no real or well founded objections to the 
amount of compensation given for it, except that it is not an ade- 
quate one. This treaty may be considered in its fiscal, political, 
and moral effects, as the most important of any that we have hith- 
erto made with the Indians." 

It was at this time that Governor Cass urged upon the conside- 
ration of the government, the political and pecuniary necessity for 
constructing a road from Sandusky to Detroit. Its advantages to 
the government in a military and fiscal view, were pointed out in 
a communication to the War Department, so clearly and argumen- 
tatively, that its necessity could not be overlooked. Had there 
been during the war, a good road running from the interior of Ohio 
to Detroit, immense sums of money would have been saved to the 
nation ; the capacities for supplying the military posts on the 
Lakes, with troops and provisions, would have prevented much of 
the disaster which befel the northwestern army at the outset of the 

6 



8*2 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

campaign. The government were induced by the application of 
Gov. Cass and his colleague, to commence building a road over 
the route indicated, taking in its course the well known morass — 
the Black Swamp. 

Subsequent to the negotiation of this treaty, and within a period 
of eighteen years, Gov. Cass made and concluded nineteen trea- 
ties with the several tribes of Indians within our borders, all of 
which, but one, were in the Northwest Territory. The number 
of Indians within the extent of his jurisdiction, when he assumed 
the superintendency of Indian affairs, was forty-two thousand, 
among whom were nine thousand warriors. The responsibility 
resting upon him was indeed onerous ; but the duty to his country, 
and to all interested, was faithfully and efficiently discharged. His 
care and control of these fierce sons of the forest commenced at 
a time too, when to the natural difficulties of peformance, was ad- 
ded imminent personal danger to the officer. The war of 1812, 
in which these ferocious allies of the most christian British mon- 
arch had borne a horribly conspicuous part, was still pending; the 
influence of the British army was exercised against his effiarts to 
form treaties of peace and amity with them ; the ashes of the pio- 
neer's cabin they had burned, were still warm; and the scalps of 
their massacred victims, still hung green in their wigwams. Yet, 
in spite of these fearful odds, did this pioneer commissioner man- 
fully do the bidding of his country, in winter or summer, day or 
night ; traveling through the wilderness on foot or on horse-back, 
or making the tour of the great Lakes in a birchen canoe. In the 
discharge of these duties, hundreds of thousands of dollars were 
disbursed by hnn, most of which was transported at his own risk 
and under his own watchful eye, without compensation commen- 
surate with the hazard of the undertaking ; sometimes procuring 
the means on his private credit, of fulfilling treaty stipulations, 
when the government had neglected or delayed to provide them. 

The prosperous farmer, who surveys with delight his rich fields 
of ripening grain, upon our western prairies and openings, waving 
its golden head beneath a summer's sun to the light breeze that 
softly wafts across it, can scarcely realize the toils, the privations, 
the dangers that attended the man who first obtained for him the 
right to own and cultivate his cherii^.l'fU homestead. Seldom, per- 



LIFE OF CENEUAL CASS. 83 

haps, does he stop to think that he and his neighbors for miles 
around, are all indebted to the exertions, the self-denial, the con- 
scientious sense of duty of one man, for those teeming and fruit- 
ful fields, which bring gladness to his heart and prosperity to his 
household. Yet the public records of the government bear testi- 
mony that nearly every foot of soil in the northwest was acquired 
by Lewis Cass. No man was ever so closely identified with that 
portion of oar country. No man in its behalf, has undergone so 
much personal privation ; endured so much sacrifice of comfort 
and enjoyment, or rendered such great and signal benefits as Gen- 
eral Cass. 

The annexed statement will show the number of treaties nego- 
tiated by Gov. Cass; when and with what tribes: also the estima- 
ted number of Indians under his superintendence in in 1813, when 
he assumed Executive duties at Detroit. 

Indian Treaties concluded by Gen. Cass. 
Names of Tribes. Dates of Treaties. 

Wyandots, Dclawares. Shawnees, Senecas and Miamies July 22, 1814? 

Wvandots, Delawares, Shawnees, Pottawatamies, Ottawas and 

Chipi/ewas Sept.29, 1817 

Delawares Oct. 3, 1818- 

Miamies Oct. (>, 181| 

Pottawatamies Oct. - 1818 

Chippe was of Saginaw i^ept. 24, 181 J 

Chippewas of Saut Ste. Marie. Lake Superior June. IG. 1820 

Ottawas of L'Arbre, Lake Michigan.. July 6, 182Q 

Chippewas, Ottawas, and Fo;awatamies of Illinois Aug. 29, 1821 

Sioux, Chippewas, Sacs and Foxes lowas Winnebagoes, Menom- 

onies and Pottawatamies Aug. 19, 1825 

Chippewas of Lake Superior, and the Area northwest Aug. 5, 182b 

Miamies of the Wabash Oct. 23, 1826 

Pottawatamies Oct. 16, 1826 

Chippewas, Menomonies and Winnebagoes Aug. 11, 1°^^ 

Pottawatamies •• • Sept. 19. 1827 

Sacs and Foxes, Winnebagoes. Pottawatamies, Ottawas and Chip- 
pewas..... Aug. 25, 182S 

Potawatamies ••• Sept, 20, 1828 

Chippewa, Ottawa, and Pottawatamies of the Illinois, Milwaukie 

and Monitowac July 29, 182^ 

Creeks • April 4, 1832 

Estimate of the ymmber of Indians within the superintendency of Gen. Cass, at 
the period when this officer, fssumed the executive duties at Detroit, tn the 

autumn of ISlo. „,. - o i 

Warriors. Souls. 

Wyandots of Ohio and Michigan COO 2,500 

Shawnees of Ohio and Indiana 1^" »"" 

Senecas of Sandusky JOO ^^ 

Delawares of Indiana '^" j?V 

Ottawas of Maumee «" ^T^ 

Ottawas of the Peninsula of Michigan *^ ~>^ 

Saginaws ' 240 1,^00 

Pottawatomies of St. Joseph & the Huron •• *"" •'"'' 



84 LifE Of GENERAL CASS. 

FoUavvatomies of Chicago ar.d Illinois at large 400 2,000 

Chippewas of Lakes St. Clair and Huron, and the precincts of 

Michiliinacinac 1,000 6,000 

Chippevvas of Lake Superior, and the region north of the Lake of 

the Woods and head of the Mississippi 2,000 10,000 

Menomonies of Green Bay and Fox river fiOO 3,000 

Win ebagoes of Western Michig-in. now Wisconsin LOO0 5,500 

Miamies, Weas, and Piankeshaws of the Wabash 900 4,000 

Sioux and other bands from the west of Mississippi, and visiting 

or roving Indians at large 600 3,000 

3,890 41,400 

The various tribes of Indians within the superiiitendency of Gov. 
Cass, between the Lakes and the Mississippi, were but imperfectly 
known, and so was the country they inhabited. To obtain a more 
thorough knowledge of both ; to explain to the Indians the views 
of the government towards them : to acquire information which 
would facilitate and improve the performance of the duties of his 
department, Gov. Cass projected the plan of making a tour by the 
way of the lakes, to the head waters of the Mississippi. He com- 
municated his plan to the Secretary of War, with the objects and 
purposes of the expedition, which were : 

First. A personal examination of the different Indian tribes who 
occupied the territory ; of their moral and social condition ; of 
their feelings towards the United States: of their numerical 
strength ; and of the various objects connected with them, of which 
humanity and sound policy required that the government should 
possess an intimate knowledge. 

Second. To procure the extinction of Indian title to the land in 
the vicinity of the straits of St. Mary, Prairie du Chien, Green 
Bay, and open the communication between the two latter places. 

Third. The examination of the body of copper in the vicinity 
of Lake Superior. 

Fourth. To ascertain the views of the Indians in the vicinity of 
Chicago, respecting the removal of the Six Nations to that country. 

Fifth. To explain to the Indians the views of the Government 
respecting their intercourse with the British authorities at Maiden, 
and distinctly to announce to them that their visits must be discon- 
tinued. 

Sixth. To ascertain the state of the British fur trade within that 
part of our jurisdiction. 

This proposition, and its objects, received the sanction of gov- 
ernment, except that relating to the further extinguishment of In- 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 85 

dian title. This was then deemed inexpedient, further than to 
procure a cession at the Saut de Ste. Marie, not exceeding ten miles 
square. 

In prosecuting this enterprise, Gov. Cass adopted the most sim- 
ple and economical means. All that he required was a birch ca- 
noe, with a complement of experienced boatmen. No compensa- 
tion was asked for his own time and services ; he only requested 
permission to apply an appropriation already made, of one thousand 
dollars, to defray the actual expenses of the trip. To aid in ac- 
complishing all of the proposed objects of the expedition, the goT- 
ernment appointed a topographical engineer, and a gentleman skill- 
ed in mineralogy and geology, to accompany the expedition. 

On Wednesday, May 24th, 1820, arrangements for the expedi- 
tion being complete. Governor Cass started from Detroit, accom- 
panied by Capt. Douglass, of the engineer corps ; Lieut. McCay, 
of the corps of artillery; Dr. Wolcott, of the Indian department; 
Henry L. Schoolcraft, Esq., a scientific geologist, and three other 
persons, citizens of Detroit. Their conveyances consisted of three 
canoes, propelled by voyageurs and Indians : each canoe was 
adorned with the flag of the United States flying from the stern. 
The departure of the pajty caused no little excitement and anima- 
tion among the inhabitants of the territory, especially among the 
citizens of Detroit. The wharf and the shore of the river were 
lined with spectators. The novelty and hazard of the expedition 
were appreciated by all. The canoes were paddled into the stream 
amid the cheers and huzzas of the multitude, and were propelled 
against a strong wind and current with astonishing rapidity ; the 
voyage.urs regulating the strokes of their paddles by one of their 
singular and exhilerating row songs, and the Indians encouraging 
each other by shouts of exultation. On leaving the shore, consid- 
erable exertion was made, both by the voyageurs and Indians, to 
obtain the lead, and a handsome boat race was witnessed, in which 
the Indians displayed their superior skill, and soon left the other 
canoes far behind. This expedition, commenced with the appro- 
bation of the government, and under encouraging support from 
residents near the country to be explored, was prosecuted with vi- 
gor and determination. The party, notwithstanding they were 
impeded by head winds, arrived at Mackinac on the 10th of June, 



86 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

having traversed about four hundred miles. There they procured 
canoes of a larger size than those in which they left Detroit. From 
Mackinac they proceeded to the Saut of Ste. Marie, where- Gov- 
ernor Cass negotiated with the Chippevvas for a cession of sixteen 
square miles of land, as instructed by the Secretary of War, for 
the purpose of establishing a military post. This was an import- 
ant acquisition ; one absolutely necessary for the preservation of 
good feeling and amity on the part of the Indians inhabiting the 
upper country. 

Persons hostilely disposed towards our government, and jealous 
of the influence which it was gaining over the numerous tribes of 
Indians, were in the habit of resorting to this point from the Brit- 
ish outposts and trading stations, for the purpose of exciting by 
false tales, and by bestowing presents, the minds of the Indians 
against our officers. By evil counsel and the most corrupt means, 
they partially succeeded in throwing difficulties in the way of 
treaty negotiations. The cession above spoken of, preparatory to 
the establishment of a military force there, to overawe the inimical 
and hostilely disposed savages and prevent the visits of British em- 
issaries, was in the highest degree advantageous to the country. 
The Saut Ste. Marie was the key to the country around and north 
of Lake Superior. It was the thoroughfare through which the 
Indians passed to receive their presents and medals at the British 
post on Drummond's Island, near the mouth of the river St. Mary. 
Its importance to the United States, could not be over estimated. 
It was on the occasion of effiicting this treaty, that Gov. Cass dis- 
played, at the peril of his life, that personal courage and indiffe- 
rence to danger, by which singly and unarmed, he vindicated the 
insulted dignity of his country, and overawed by moral force, a 
band of armed and angry chiefs. A gentleman who accompanied 
the expedition, gives the following narrative of the occurrence : — 
A chief who was called the "Count," appeared in the council at 
Ste. Mavie, in the full dress of a British officer of rank, and during 
the conference, showed the greatest aversion to the Americans. 
When the chiefs were about to retire, this fellot\', standing by the 
presents which laid in the centre of the marquee, where the coun- 
cil was held, with great contempt kicked them aside, and rushed 
out of the marquee. In a few minutes the British flag, and not an 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 87 

American one, was seen flying within tliirty rods, and in front of the 
Governor's camp, and in the midst of the Indian lodges. Immedi- 
ately the Governor, unattended by any of his party, walked to the 
lodo-e where the flag was raised, and by which the chiefs who had 
been in the council were standing, and seizing the flag, dashed it 
to the ground and trampled it under his feet. The Indians appear- 
ed to be panic struck by this daring act. The Governor called to 
the interpreter and remonstrated with the chiefs upon the impropri- 
ety of their conduct, and upon the hostile feelings which they dis- 
played by this act towards the United States. He also stated to them 
the inevitable result to which such conduct must lead, and that a 
repetition of it, while he was there, would not pass unpunished. 
In less than fifteen minutes, the squaws belonging to the lodges, 
with all their children, had abandoned their camp, and were safely 
landed on the British shore, and appearances indicated an immedi- 
ate attack by the Indians upon the party. On the part of the ex- 
ploring party, preparations were instantly made for defence against 
any attack which might be made by the Indians. But the firmness 
of the Governor effected what had been nearly despaired of In a 
short time the old chiefs sent to the Governor and disavowed the 
act. They attributed it to their young men, and expressed their 
sincere regret at its occurrence. They also requested a renewal 
of the council and professed their readiness to make the cession 
of land asked for by the United States. The council was renewed 
and in a short time the treaty was consummated. 

These same Indians, acting under the influence of British emis- 
saries, had, before this event, insulted American officers who visited 
the Saut. They were aware of the object of our government in 
desiring to obtain this cession of land, which doubtless made them 
more reluctant to part with it, than otherwise they would have 
been. Had noi Governor Cass met the emergency precisely as 
he did, intimidating the Indians by his heroism, the object would 
not have been accomplished at that time. 

From the Saut Ste. Marie, the party coasted along the southern 
shore of Lake Superior to the Fond du Lac : ascended the St. 
Louis to one of its sources ; and descended a tributary stream of 
Sandy Lake to the Mississippi river; thence ascending to the Up- 
per Red Cedar Lake, the principal tributary of the Mississippi, 



88 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

From this they descended the Mississippi fourteen hundred miles 
to Prairie du Chien, passing on the route the post of St. Peter's. 
They then navigated the Wisconsin river to the Portage, entered 
the Fox river and descended it to Green Bay. At this point a por- 
tion of the party separated from Gov. Cass, intending, for topo- 
graphical exploration, to coast along the eastern shore of Lake Mi- 
chisan to Mackinac. The Governor returned to Detroit by way 
of Chicago. He arrived at the latter place on the 11th of Sep- 
tember, having been traveling since the 20th of the preceding May, 
durino- which time he traversed over five thousand miles of fron- 
tier in his canoes; held various treaties with the Indians; obtain- 
ed valuable accessions of territory ; explored a hitherto unknown 
region of country ; procured additional knowledge of the feelings, 
views, disposition, character, customs and numbers of the Indians, 
and a more accurate topography of the vast country watered by 
the Great Lakes. The proposed objects of his expedition were 
fully and satisfactorily accomplished. 

In the year 1825, Governor Cass and Governor Clarke, of Mis- 
souri, were appointed commissioners on the part of the United 
States, to meet the Indians of the extreme northwest, at Prairie 
du Chien, to negotiate a treaty of peace between the hostile tribes 
inhabiting that region. Wars for many years had been carried on 
between the Chippewas and Sioux ; the Sacs and Foxes and the 
Sioux ; and the lowas and Sioux. This existence of hostilities 
within the jurisdiction of the United States, if permitted to con- 
tinue, would in a short time have been productive of incalculable 
evil. Its influence upon the other tribes on the Missouri and Mis- 
sissippi rivers, and on the lakes, would have been to involve them 
all in general warfare ; retarding the advancement of the country 
and creating new obstacles to their removal beyond the Mississippi. 
Accordingly, to promote peace among the several tribes, and to 
establish boundaries among them, and remove all causes of future 
difficulty, they were invited to assemble at Prairie du Chien to ac- 
<;omplish these objects. The invitation was generally responded 
to, and large deputations of the Sioux, Chippewas, Sacs, Foxes,, 
Winnebagoes, lowas, and Menominees, attended in the month of 
August, 1825, and were met by the commissioners. Many of the 
Indians came from points a thousand miles distant from the treaty 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 89 

ground. The objects of this assemblage occupied the attention of 
the council for several days. The difficulties attending a negotia- 
tion of this kind were formidable. The entire nature of the trans- 
action being different from an ordinary treaty, where lands were 
to be given up on one side and a consideration paid therefor by the 
other. Here there were no tangible inducements ; no glittering 
gold and showy presents, to persuade the warriors to listen to the 
advice of his white brother. The consideration of their conces- 
sions was entirely a moral one; one little understood and doubtless 
quite as little appreciated by them, as oftentimes it is by the more 
civilized and educated. Besides, it was asking the turbulent and 
war-seeking Chippewa; the brave and daring Sioux, to lay down 
the tomahawk and extend the hand of peace and friendship to one 
another, while each held the unavenged trophies of valor, obtain- 
ed in deadly combat. To effect, under such circumstances, the 
purpose of the conference, required the utmost caution and pru- 
dence. It should be borne in mind, too, that the Indian evinces 
great acuteness in defining his rights, and no less pertinacity in 
maintaining them. In a conflict of claims between them, it is no 
easy task to reconcile their differences, and induce concession and 
relinquishment. In spite, however, of all obstacles, and they were 
by no means few in number, or light in influence, the commission- 
ers accomplished the purpose of their mission. 

A treaty was concluded and signed on the 19th of August, 1825, 
whereby it was agreed that there should be a firm and perpetual 
peace between the contending tribes : boundaries to their territory 
were fixed. One principal cause of hostilities, was the invasion 
by one tribe, of the hunting grounds claimed by another; this 
cause was removed by an agreement, that no tribe would hunt 
within the acknowledged limits of another, without their assent. 

To give solemnity to this treaty, the commissioners omitted 
none of the ceremonies usual on such occasions, and to which the 
Indians attached so great importance. This token of respect for 
their reverence for their time-honored usages and customs, opera- 
ted in holding them more faithfully to the fulfilment of their agree- 
ments. At the conclusion of the treaty, the commissioners enter- 
tained the whole assemblage of Indians with a feast, having a pe- 
culiarity attending it v/hich was truly novel and unusual to the 



90 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

guests. The occasion was made use of to explain to them the 
evils they suffered from their indulgence in ardent spirits; and the 
terrible consequences which would inevitably ensue to them, if 
they continued the baleful practice. To convince them that the 
government was not actuated by a desire to save the cost of the 
liquor they might consume, and which it had been accustomed to 
distribute among them at treaties, but which in the present instance 
was omitted, the commissioners caused an ample supply of whisky 
to be brought in among them. When their attention was awaken- 
ed to the subject. Gov. Cass ordered the vessels containing the li- 
quor to be overturned, and the contents wasted upon the ground. 
The Indians were greatly disappointed and much astonished by 
this novel temperance lecture. 

In 1826, Gov. Cass negotiated a further treaty with the Chippe- 
was at Fond du Lac, on Lake Superior; a treaty with the Potta- 
watomies on the Wabash, in Indiana; and a treaty with the Mi- 
amis, also on the Wabash, These several treaties were all of im- 
portance to the country ; accomplishing peaceably and legally the 
extinguishment of Indian title, c.nd preparing the minds of the In- 
dians for removal beyond the limits of civilized settlements. 

At the treaty of Fond du Lac, more than two thousand Indians 
assembled. This point was an old Indian trading establishment, 
on the St. Louis river, and distant from the Saut Ste. Marie five 
hundred miles. The voyage was accomplished in bark canoes, 
and occupied eighteen days, during which much tempestuous wea- 
ther and high seas were experienced. Having arrived there, a 
treaty was negotiated and signed. The chiefs who were there, ap- 
peared at the council with the British flag and with British medals 
suspended from their necks. After the conclusion of the treaty. 
Gov. Cass directed one of his attendants to take the medals and 
flag from the chiefs. This being done, the Governor placed the 
medals and flaff under his feet, and told the chiefs that when he 
returned he would give them the kind of medals and flag they were 
to use. This was a bold act on the part of the Governor, but it 
impressed the Indians with his courage, and made' them listen fa- 
vorably to his advice. 

At the treaty with the Pottawatomies and Miamis on the Wa- 
bash, in Indiana, in 1826, Gov. Cass delivered the following speech 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 



91 



to the Indians, and which is here given as a specimen of the style 
and manner of his intercourse with the Indian tribes. 

My Cuildre.x— ci • ■, »! i. 

PotlawatomU'S and Miamis : We thank the Great fepn-il tnat 
he has opened the paths to conduct us all here in safety, and that he has 
given us a clear sky and a cloudless sun, to meet together in this council 
house. Your great father, the President of the United States, has sent 
me, together with the two gentlemen who sit with me, to meet you here 
upon business highly important to you, and we request that you would 
open your ears and listen attentively to what we have to say to you. 

When the Great Spirit first placed you upon this island, he gave you 
plenty of game for food and clothing, and bows and arrows, with which 
to kill it. After some time it became difficult to kill the game, and the 
Great Spirit sent the white men here, who supplied you with guns, pow- 
der, and balls, and with^blankets and clothes. We were then a very small 
people ; but we have since L-really increased, and we are now spread over 
the whole face of the country. You have decreased, and your numbers 
are now much reduced. You have but little game, and it is difficult for 
you to support your women and children by hunting. Your Great Father, 
whose eyes survey the whole country, sees that you have a large tract ot 
land here, which is of no service to you. You do not cultivate it, and 
there is but little gained upon it. The buffalo has long since left it, and 
the deer are going. There are no beavers, and there will soon be no other 
animals worth hunting upon it. 

There are a great many of the white children of your father who 
would be glad to live upon this lan^h They would build houses, and raise 
corn, and cattle, and hogs. You know that wheo a family grows up and 
becomes large, they must leave their father's house and look out for a 
place for themselves— so it is with your white brethren. Their family is 
increased, and they must find some new place to move to. Your Great 
Father is 'willing to give for this land much more than it is worth to you. 
He is willing to give more than all the game upon it would sell for. He 
will make you a considerable present now, and he will allow an annuity 
hereafter. "You know well that all he promises, he will perform. 

The stipulations made to you heret>fore are punctually fulfilled. Large 
annuities in specie are paid to you, and they are sufficient to make you 
comfortable ; much more so than you were before the Treaty of St. Mary s. 
Vour Great Father is not only anxious to purchase the country of you; 
but he is desirous that you should remove far from his white children. 
You must all see that you cannot live in the neighborhood of the white 
people. You have bad men, so have we. Your people will neal our horse?, 
kill our cattle and hogs, and commit other injuries upon our property. 
Some of our people who have committed crimes, escape into your coun- 
try, and it becomes difficult to take them. Besides, when you divide our 
settlements, we cannot have roads, and taverns, and ferries. The game, 
too, dies before our improvements, and when that goes you must; follow it. 
But above all, your young men are ruining themselves with whisky. 

Since within the recollection of many of you, ycur numbers have di- 
minished one-half, and unless you tako some decisive step to check this 
evil, there will soon not be a red man remaining upon the islands. We 
have tried all we could to prevent you from having this poison, but we 
cannot. Your bad m^n wlU buy, and our bad men will sell. Old a.nd 
young among you will drink. You sacrifice your property, you abandon 
your women and children, and destroy one another. There is but one 
safety for you, and that is to fly from this mad water. Your Father owns 



92 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

a large country west of the Mississippi ; he is anxious that all of his red 
children would remove there, and sit down in peace together. There 
they can hunt and provide for their women and children, and once more 
become a happy people. We are authorized to offer you a residence 
there equal to your lands here in extent, and pay you an annuity which 
will make you comfortable, and provide means for your removal. 

You will then have a country abounding M'ith game, and you will also 
have the value of the country you leave. You will be beyond the reach 
of whisky, for it cannot reach you there. Your Great Father will not 
suffer any of his white children to reside there, for it is reserved for his 
red people. It will be yours as long as the sua shines and the raia falls. 

You must go before long — you cannot remain here — you must remove 
or perish. Now is the time for you to make a good bargain for yourselves, 
which will make you rich and comfortable. 

Come forward then, like wise men, and accept the terms we offer. 
We understand there is a difference of opinion between Pottawatomies 
and Miamis, re>pecting their claims to this land. This difference we 
should be glad to have you settle between yourselves. If you can do 
this it v/ill be well, if not, we shall examine into the circumstances and 
decide between you.^, 

The preceding was written and read by sentences to the inter- 
preter, (Mr. Barron, chief interpreter,) who delivered it to the In- 
dians ; to this followed a few rxtemjiore remarks by Governor Cass, 
viz : — 

"Mr. McCoy, whom you know is a good man, will go with you over the 
Mississippi; and continue to live among you. You know him to be a 
good man, and a sincere friend to you, and would not advise you to do 
any thing that would be an injury to you. You stand alone — there is none 
to support you — the Shawnees and Delawares are all gone. You have 
been invited by your Great Fatter, the President, and are now sitting 
around our council fire, in our council house, and under our flag. Your 
young men are not always prudent, they will drink and quarrel — we hope 
the old and wise men will keep the young men from doing any injury. If 
blood should be shed at our council fire, we never should forgive it, — we 
have the will and power to punish it. 

Your Great Father ha9 a quick ear, a sharp eye, and a long arm. If a 
Pottawatomie strikes a Miami, or a Miami strikes a Pottawatomie, he strikes 
us — no matter where he goes, we promise here before our brethren, red 
and white, we will never kindle another council fire, nor smoke another 
pipe before we punish him. Your young men must listen to what the 
chiefs tell them — They should do as in former days, when chiefs had 
power and the young men were v/ise — let them clear out their eyes, and 
let the words I have spoken go to their hearts. 

You now have the propositions we were authorized to make you. We 
wish you to remember it, and think upon it, and return us an answer 
as soon as possible. When you are ready let us know if, and we will 
hoist the flag — which shall be the signal that we are ready to receive 
vour answer. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Journey to Lake Winnebago— Hostile feeling among the Winnebagoes— Attack 
on the Miners— War Messages — Gov. Cass organizing the Miners for defence- 
Alarm at Fever River— He goes to St. Louis— Anxiety at Green Bay for his 
safety— Rumors there of his death— Arrival at Green Bay- Treaty of Butte de 
Morts— Occurrence at the Treaty— Personal danger at Indian village— Provi- 
dential escape— Removal of Troops, cause of the Indian difficulties—Succes- 
sive appointments of Gov. Cass— His civil administration— His freedomWrom 
religious intolerance— Tribute to the Catholic Missionaries— Satisfaction of the 
people with his administration — Secret of his success — His views on appoint- 
ment to office— First Legislative Council of the Territory— Gov. Cass calls 
attention to the existence of Copper oa the upper Peninsula — Removal of the 

New York Indians Visits of the Indians to the British post at Maiden — He 

attempts to prevent them. 

In the month of June, 1827, Gov. Cass, in company with Col. 
McKenney, left Detroit for Lake Winnebago. They went lo hold 
a council with the Indians, to establish the boundary line between 
the Chippewas, the Menomineess, and Winnebagoes, as agreed up- 
on at the treaty of Prairie du Chien; also to settle the boundaries 
of the lands allotted to the New York Indians. When they arrived 
at Green Bay, rumors were current that the haughty and untame- 
able Winnebagoes had evinced hostile feelings towards the miners 
in their country, and were endeavoring to enlist the Pottawatomies 
to join them in driving the whites from the country. Governor 
Cass proceeded at once, by express, to Prairie du Chien, for the 
purpose of settling the difficulties. The Indians conceived that 
their rights were invaded by the aggressions of the miners, of 
whom there were about five hundred. When he arrived there, he 
found that rumor had not exaggerated the state of affairs. The 
Winnebagoes were highly excited. A few day? previous they niur- 
dered and scalped three persons. The inhabitants were in great 
alarm. They had left their farms, and for protection and defence 
had congregated at one house, where they were expecting to be 
attacked. A party of three hundred warriors had driven the mi- 
ners from their ground on Fever river, and destroyed their tools 
and furniture. Two boats were attacked on their way from St. 



94 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

Peter's, in which three of the Indians were killed. A feeling of 
enmity prevailed generally among the Indians towards the settlers, 
and concerted measures had been arranged for their destruction. 

Gov. Cass found that the most energetic action was required to 
quell the disturbances, and bring the refractory Indians to punish- 
ment. War messages had been sent in every direction. The set- 
tlement at Prairie du Chien was broken up, and the inhabitants 
had taken sheltej in the fort, where they were but poorly provided 
with means of defence. They numbered only sixty men, almost 
destitute of arms and ammunition. He organized this body of men, 
and putting things in the best possible state of defence, descended 
the ri|er to go to St. Louis. On his arrival at the mines on the 
Fever river, he found the miners there in great alarm. Although 
they numbered three thousand, yet they were without means of 
defence. He procured at Rock Island a quantity of arms and 
ammunition, and sent them to the miners. On arriving at St. 
Louis, he represented the condition of matters to Gen. Atkinson, 
who immediately ordered a detachment of six hundred U. States 
troops, to march to the seat of trouble. Great anxiety was felt at 
Green Bay, during the Governor's absence, for his fate ; reports 
had reached there that he had been shot by the Indians. These 
anxieties were removed by his arrival at Green Bay, to prosecute 
the object of his mission. Here he met some three thousand In- 
dians who had assembled at the treaty ground. These he address- 
ed, advising them to preserve peace, at the same time informing 
them, that if they were tired of peace and desired a little war play, 
the United States would accommodate them. 

Gov. Cass, having in some degree allayed the excitement among 
them, and, by his prompt and energetic action, awed them into 
submission, proceeded to hold the treaty with them. The treaty 
was concluded at the Butte de Morts (Hillock of the dead,) on the 
fifteenth of September. By it, was obtained the final settlement of 
the division line between the Chippewas and the Menominees; 
a cession of the Green Bay reservation, and the determination of 
its limits, and reference to the government of the United States, 
of the matters in dispute between the Menominees and New York 
Indians. The treaty being concluded, the Indians were preparing 
to leave the ground, when suddenly the attention of the assemblage 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 95 

was arrested by a wild and fearful scream. A squaw, having at- 
tempted to prevent her husband from parting with the supplies that 
had been given them, which he was about to do, for whisky, had 
been stabbed by him. He was taken into custody by orderr of the 
Governor, and arrangements were made at once to punish him. 
Gov. Cass resolved to make an example of him by inflicting a pun- 
ishment which was regarded by the Indians as the most disgrace- 
ful and degrading they could suffer. To the inquiry, "what shall 
be done with this man ?" the Governor replied, " we will make a 
woman of him." 

The Indians were all assemljled together around the Butte de 
Morts, the women and children being placed in front. The offen- 
der was then brought before them, and Gov. Cass, tlirough an in- 
terpreter, explained to them what he was about to do. He spoke 
to them of the kind intention of the woman, of her object in at- 
tempting to preserve their provisions and clothing from the grasp 
of the heartless whisky dealer ; that, further, the man had struck 
her with his knife, and, but for the interference of others, would 
have deprived her of life ; that the man who could commit such a 
deed upon a helpless woman, was unfit to rank among braves, and 
forfeited his character as a man. The warriors were highly incens- 
ed at the interference of Gov. Cass, and a desire to resist his orders 
was manifested by them. But he proceeded unmoved in the per- 
formance of the ceremony. The Indian was deprived of his leg- 
gins and ornaments, his knife taken from him, the blade broken 
off and the handle returned to him. A dirty petticoat, procured 
from an old squaw, was then put on him, and, thus dressed, he was 
led through the crowd, and pronounced " henceforth a woman !" 
This sentence was far more terrible to the Indian than death itself. 
It separated him, for ever, from association with the braves of his 
tribe, and subjected him to all the drudgery and servile labor to 
which the Indians subject their females. 

There can be no doubt but that the arrival of Governor Cass 
at Prairie du Chien, and his subsequent expeditious movements, 
checked and thwarted a general confederation among the Indians 
of the Mississippi and the lakes, for the destruction of the miners 
and settlers. It was ascertained that the Winnebagoes had sent 
the war pipe and club to call to their aid their red brethren ; that 



96 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

they were gathering to devise measures to act together In the 
course of two months, occupied on business relating to this move- 
ment of the Indians, Gov. Cass traveled three thousand five hun- 
dred miles. He is said to have made the trip from Prairie du Chien 
to St. Louis in seven days, the shortest time then known. When 
descending the Wisconsin river, with Major Forsyth, he stopped 
to visit a Winnebago village, which was so secluded as to escape 
the observation of any one on the river, not knoM'ing its existence. 
Wishing to have a friendly intercourse with the chiefs, he entered 
the village alone. As he ascended a small eminence, on which 
the lodges were erected, a young Indian took deliberate aim at 
him, and was about to fire, when an older Indian struck up his 
ffun, exclaiming — " What are you doing? You will ruin us all !' 
Upon his approach they began to take down their wigwams; the 
women and children fled, carrying away, as secretly as they were 
able, the arms and ammunition of the village. As the Governor 
was leaving the place, a gun was pointed at him by an Indian. It 
providentially missed fire. This refusal of the gun to go off, was 
regarded by the Indians as a token of displeasure from the Great 
Spirit, and the attempt was not renewed. These circumstances 
were told by the Indians themselves, at the subsequent treaty of 
Butte des Morts. 

When the Governor was at Chicago, he sent to a Pottawatomie 
chief, who lived near there, to come and see him. The chief re- 
fused to comply with the request, and sent word to the Governor, 
that, if he wished to see him, he must come to his lodge, and, when 
he got there, he would have his head taken off. 

The Indian difficulties of this year were attributable to the with- 
drawal of the troops from most of the posts which they had occu- 
pied in the Indian country. They knew that there were no sol- 
diers on the spot to punish them for their outrages, and they fan- 
cied that they could do as they pleased with impunity. It is a 
characteristic of the Indian to be insolent and overbearing when 
he has no apprehension of immediate chastisement. Prairie du 
Chien, the scene of this outbreak, was, at the time, a small settle- 
ment in the heart of the Indian country, at the junction of the 
Wisconsin and Mississippi rivers. The Sacs, Foxes, Winneba- 
goes, Menominees and Sioux, all lived in the vicinity. A military 



LITE OF GENERAL CASS. 97 

force was obviously necessary to keep the Indians quiet ; yet the 
policy of the government was opposed to such an establishment. 
The troops were removed from there to St. Peter's, further up the 
Mississippi. The inhabitants of the whole western country were 
indignant at such indifference to their safety, and repeatedly me- 
morialized the President on the subject. Particularly in Michigan 
was this course, on the part of the government, deprecated. De- 
troit and Mackinac, two very important and exposed points, were 
left destitute of a single United States soldier. This condition of 
the defences of the northwestern frontier, was urged with force and 
earnestness upon the attention of Congress, a year previous to the 
outrage committed at Prairie du Chien. In a memorial, relating 
to the measures necessary for the defence of the frontier, Governor 
Cass reviewed the whole ground, showing how indispensable to the 
maintenance of our rights and the protection of our citizens, was 
a policy of systematized and thorough defence, by the construction 
of military roads, and the erection of suitable and permanent de- 
fences. At this time, exclusive of the Indians on Lake Superior 
and the head waters of the Mississippi, there were, within the ter- 
ritory of Michigan, more than twenty-eight thousand Indians, over 
whom the officers of the Indian department of the British govern- 
ment exercised an influence incompatible with the honor of our 
government, and injurious to the peaceful interests of the inhabi- 
tants of Michigan. Unfortunately, neither the arguments of Gov. 
Cass, nor the petitions of the people, could divert the mind of the 
senior Major General of the army, from his favorite plan of estab- 
lishing a cordon of exterior posts, to the neglect of those more inte- 
rior. Detroit, Mackinac, Chicago and Prairie du Chien, were left 
without any military force whatever. The experience of the sum- 
mer of 18:27, however, induced a re-occupation of the posts of 
Chicago and Prairie du Chien. 

In the year 1827, Gov. Cass procured from the Indians living in 
St. Joseph county, Michigan, a cession of their lands for building 
a military road from Detroit to Chicago. 

Gov. Cass received, as has been stated, his first appointment as 
governor of the Michigan territory, in 1813, from President Mad- 
ison. This appointment was renewed under successive Presi- 
dents, and he continued to hold that office until his selection by 
7 



98 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

Gen. Jackson to fill the office of Secretary of War, in the cabinet 
of that distinguished man. 

His civil administration of the government of the territory, from 
its commencement to its honorable close, is marked everywhere 
as highly beneficial to the advancement of the country, and the 
welfare and interests of the inhabitants. Great derangement in 
all civil matters of government, was the natural and inevitable 
consequence of the war, increased in this instance by the tempo- 
rary occupation of the enemy, following the surrender. Disorder 
prevailed to a degree which would have appalled a man of less en- 
ergy, and driven hini away in despair of establishing peace, order 
and quiet. 

Gov. Cass, with his habitual firmness and decision, seized at once 
upon those points of organization which were most prominent and 
needed the earliest and most strenuous attention. Courts were es- 
tablished, civil officers appointed, territorial divisions created and 
established, and other means devised, calculated to raise the terri- 
tory from the state of depression and neglect into which it had 
fallen. As the increase of the population and the extension of the 
settlements demanded, he established new counties. A system of 
internal improvement, devoted to the laying out and constructing 
roads, received from him particular attention ; the establishment 
of schools and religious institutions, independent of sectarian views, 
were objects which held the first place in his careful provision for 
the best interests of the territory. Though born and educated 
amid the stern inculcations and immovable Puritanism of the Pil- 
grims, no man in his official character could be more tolerant or 
friendly to the religious rights of others, or more active in foster- 
ing the early attempts of persons of any religious sect to promote 
the moral and spiritual welfare of the people. In an address de- 
livered before the historical society of Michigan, Gov. Cass pays 
the following beautiful and justly bestowed tribute to the self de- 
nying spirit and religious zeal of the Roman Catholic missionaries. 
He says: "The whole history of human character furnishes no 
more illustrious examples of self devotion, than are to be found in 
the records of the establishment of the Roman Catholic mission- 
aries, whose faith and fervor enabled them to combat the difficul- 
ties around them in life, and triumph over them in death." 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 99 

For a period of eighteen years did Gov. Cass devote himself to 
the faithful performance of his administration as governor of the 
Michigan territory, amid the privations and hardships of a frontier 
life. During the first stages of territorial existence, the duties in- 
cumbent upon the executive are more numerous and onerous than 
under any other form of organization. Not only is he the execu- 
tive officer, upon whom devolves the duty to see to the faithful 
execution of the laws, but he is the principal component of the 
legislative department. Under the ordinance of 1787, the powers 
conferred upon the executive and legislative department are very 
extensive; so much so as almost to reach a point repugnant to the 
spirit of our constitution and free institutions. The voice and 
will of the people, which in our government is justly held to be 
the source of power, in the first grade of territorial government 
under the ordinance, is entirely lost sight of, and their rights and 
privileges subjected to the will and caprice of rulers, exercising 
authority over them, by appointment from the general government. 
Under such circumstances it might happen, that the people of the 
territory would find a tyrannical and exacting ruler placed over 
them, whose oppressions, though bearing upon them severely, might 
not be an infraction of the letter or spirit of the law. In a thou- 
sand ways might such a ruler prove an annoyance and an inflic- 
tion, without giving cause or opportunity for his removal. Great 
latitude is left by the law which prescribes his powers and duties ; 
and innumerable are the instances where he might prove to be a 
scourge and injury to the people. Nor would it be at all wonder- 
ful, circumstanced as the territory then was, should there have 
been an occasional instance where an individual might deem his 
rights infringed, or his liberty as a citizen of a republican govern- 
ment limited by the acts of a territorial governor, however wise or 
humane, or careful of acting only under the sanction of legal au- 
thority clearly expressed. Yet, during the whole of Gov. Cass' 
administration, there is no evidence of the existence of a single 
murmur or complaint against him. No exemption from liability 
to err, is claimed for him ; nor is it pretended that his measures 
and conduct were free from imperfection ; but it is stated as a 
proof of his devoted attention to the wants of those whom he was 
called upon to govern, his readiness to listen to and adopt the ^ug- 



>00 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

gestions of the wisdom and experience of others. It is hazarding 
but little to assert, that there is not in the history of our own 
country, at least, an instance of governmental policy and practice 
where so much was effected and so little objected to ; where there 
were so many conflicting causes to be brought into harmony ; so 
so much concession to be obtained ; so many changes in daily and 
habitual customs to be wrought, as in that period, following the 
close of the war of 1812, in the territory of Michigan. The true 
secret of the success of Gov. Cass, was his reverence for that de- 
mocratic principle, which teaches all in authority under our insti- 
tutions and laws, to regard the wishes and feelings of the govern- 
ed. The opinions of the people were held in respect ; and basing 
his administration upon the adoption of the simple, but well estab- 
lished political truth, that, from the people, emanates all power in 
a republican government, he conformed his practice thereto, and 
never gave an arbitrary or overdrawn construction to the organic 
law of his governfnent, whereby his own powers might be construc- 
tively increased, while the rights of the people would be propor- 
jfionally diminished. 

In the speech of Gov. Cass, delivered June 7th, 1834, to the 
first legislative body convened in the territory of Michigan, the 
inherent right of the people to the control of public officers, is thus 
spoken of: — 

"The legislative power, heretofore e.xercised, has been vested in offi- 
cers over whom the people had no direct control. Authority thus held, is 
certainly liable to abuse ; but its practical operation was restrained and 
.secured as well by the limitations provided in the fundamental ordinance, 
as by the spirit of our institutions and the superintending' control of the 
general government. Still that change in our political system, which gives 
to the people the right of electing their own Legislature, is not only cor- 
rect in principle, but will be found most salutary in its operation. 

"The power of appointment to office in free governments, presents for 
.solution, a doubtful and delicate question. In this territorial government, 
that power is vested in the Executive alone. I feel no disposition on the 
one hand, to shrink from any necessary responsibility, nor on the other, 
tenaciously to retain any power originally granted for the ppblic good, but 
which the public interest now requires should be surrendered. The ordi- 
nance of Congress, which forms the basis of our political fabric, was pass- 
ed thirty-five years ago. It was a political experiment, and successive al- 
terations have been made, and to remedy defects which experience has 
shown to exist and to accommodate its principles to the advancing opin- 
ions of the age. My own observation has satisfied me, that a beneficial 
change may be made in the mode of appointment to office. All township 
and corporation, and many county officers, and particularly those whose 
duties relate to the fiscal and police concerns of the respective counties, 



LIFE OF GENERA r. CASS. 101 

should be elected by the people. In the appointment of others, it appears 
to me proper to give to the council a participation. No system whicli has 
been adopted in tiie United States, upon this subject, is better calculated 
to effect the object, than that which requires a nomination by an Executive 
mao-istrate, and the concurrence of a deliberative body. By these means 
weliave the advantage of individual responsibility in the nomination, and 
also a check upon its abuse, in the requTed concurrence of a co-ordinate 
branch of the government." 

On the subjects of schools and education, Gov. Cass, in the same 

speech, says: — 

"The importance of this subject to our present and future prosperity, 
must be too well appreciated to require any observation from me. A 
practical and well digested system, which should extend to all the advanta- 
ges of education, would be of inestimable value to this young and grow- 
fng community. A more acceptable service could not be rendered to our 
fellow citizens; and no more equitable tax can be levied in any country, 
than one whose application is directed to preparing its citizens for appre- 
icating and preserving the blessings of self government." 

In relation to the accountability of the representative to his con- 
stituents, the Governor, at that early day in our history, expressed 
the following Fentiments. The provision introduced in the lately 
adopted constitution of the state of Michigan, in regard to repre- 
sentative districts, is only carrying into practice the principle re- 
commended by Gov. Cass, thirty years ago. The Governor says: — 

" It is always desirable, that the connection between the representative 
and constituent should be as intimate as practicable ; and with this view, 
districts are usually established, within which it may fairly be presumed, 
the electors will be acquainted with the characters and pretensions of those 
who request their sutTrages. When these districts are extensive, and par- 
ticularly when they embrace a whole state or territory, the immediate ac- 
countability of tiie representative to those among Avhom be lives, and who 
know him best, is weakened. I believe it would be expedient to divide 
the territory into districts, and assign to each the election of two members 
of the council." 

The proceedings of this, the first legislative assembly, excited 
paramount and universal interest among the inhabitants. The , 
Governor's message was looked upon as the guide which should 
direct their proceedings, and to it the attention of the community 
was directed. So intimately connected with the public life of Gov. 
Cass, is the condition, growth and prosperity of the territory, that 
a full account of the one cannot be given without connecting it 
more or less with the other. By setting forth the principal topics 
discussed in the Governor's message, the reader will at the same 
time obtain the most accurate information of the state of the 
country, and a convincing proof of the thorough knowledge pes- 



102 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

sessed by its chief magistrate of its condition, wants, and capaci- 
ties. The objects recommended by the Governor as requiring 
legislative action, were, — the establishment of a system of town- 
ship government, in which matters of local police might be regu- 
lated by the people in their primary meetings ; the power of ap- 
pointment and removal of territorial officers: a limitation to the 
tenure of some of the offices, in order that a more faithful per- 
formance of the duties belonging to them might be secured ; the 
necessity of providing competent means for examining and redress- 
ing complaints against public officers; the necessity of enacting 
laws whereby fugitives from justice should be delivered up ; the 
organization of courts, which should make the dispensation of jus- 
tice convenient and attainable in remote parts of the territory ; the 
advantao-es to be derived from an. efficient organization of the ter- 
ritorial militia; the benefits which would result mutually to the 
constituent and the representative, by a division of the territory 
into districts ; the importance of a practical and well digested sys- 
tem of schools and education ; the situation of the roads; changes 
in the territorial code of laws ; and the finances of the territory. 
These prominent subjects, fraught with the destiny of the territo- 
ry, were discussed in the message in a manner commensurate with 
their bearing upon the welfare of the people. The legislative 
council were governed in their deliberations by the recommenda- 
tions of the message, and the suggestions of the executive were 
responded to by enactments. 

In 1824, Gov. Cass recommended to tlie genera! government 
that steps should be taken to obtain from the Indians of Lake Su- 
perior, the right to explore that country for mining purposes, and 
to remove such ore or precious metals as might be found there. 
There were objections then existing to an absolute purchase of 
the country from the Indians, while all the advantages to be de- 
rived, would be quite as well attained by gaining the consent of 
the Indians to prosecute mining operations, without a cession of 
their title. The region, which has now become celebrated for its 
metalliferous fruitfulness, and which is daily becoming settled by 
enterprising and laborious inhabitants, was known as early as in 
the year 1824, to abound in rich mines of copper and iron. Re- 
cent explorations and successful results of mining for the last 



LIFK OF GENERAL CASS. 



103 



four years, substantiate the accuracy of the conclusions drawn by 
Governor Cass in 1824, as to the anticipated value of the Lake 
Superior country. Writing on this subject, in November of that 
year, to Col. Benton, of the United States Senate, Governor Cass 
remarks : — 

''The metalliferous region is upon and about the lake shore, and the 
extinction of the Indian title to such a portion of it as may be deemed 
advantageous, would not diminish their means of subsistence. But I still 
think, as I thought originally, that it would be most proper to negotiate 
with them for the right to explore the country, and carry on mining ope- 
rations, wherever appearances may promise the most productive result. 
All the advantages we could expect to derive from the mineral riches of 
the country, would be gained by the right to procure and take away any 
portion of them. 

"No calculation can be made of the extent and pecuniary value of 
these copper mines. No doubt is entertained but that the metal may be 
procured with as much ease as in any part of the woild. In fact, it is 
well known, that large masses of pure malleable copper have been dis- 
covered in different parts of the country; and there is every reason to 
believe, that, when those regions are fully explored, these masses will" be 
found to be still more abundant. 

"The cost of making the purchase I have described, may be kept with- 
in the sum of ten tiiousand dollars, and full justice be done to the Indians 
interested. It might, I doubt not, be made for a much less sum, were it 
consonant to the principles or policy of the Government to procure ces- 
sions from tiie Indians at the lowest possible rate. But it is due to the 
character of our country, and to the feelings of our citizens, that, in our 
negotiations with these wretched people, we should remember our own 
strength and wealth, and their weakness and poverty. That we should 
look back upon what they have lost, and we have gained, and never for- 
get the great moral debt we owe them.' 

In pursuance of the suggestion of Gov. Cass, a bill passed the 
Senate of the United States, at its succeeding session, authorizing 
the President of the United States to appoint a commissioner to 
treat with the Indians, for permission to search for copper on the 
south shore of Lake Superior. The bill, unfortunately, was lost 
in the House of Representatives. A year or two afterwards, the 
necessity for such an arrangement became so obvious, that Con- 
gress could no longer withhold its assent. In the treaty made 
with the Chippewas in August, 1826, right was granted to the Uni- 
ted States to search for and carry away any metals or minerals 
from any part of their country. 

In August, 1818, John C. Calhoun, then Secretary of War, 
called the attention of Gov Cass to the policy of removing the 
Six Nation of Indians, of the State of New York, to west of the 
Mississippi. He was instructed, that when he should meet them 



104 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

in council, he should ascertain whether the Indians, residing on 
Fox river, or any of the tribes residing north of Indiana and Illi- 
nois, would admit the Six Nations amoncr them. This measure of 
the government was then in its infancy, and was of such a peculiar 
nature that it required the most delicate and politic management. 
The Indians themselves received the proposition with disapproba- 
tion, if not absolute determination to resist. To urge it upon them 
then, would have defeated a most necessary step, towards securing 
peace and safety to the early settlers upon the newly acquired ter- 
ritory. Gov. Cass wns of opinion that the time had not yet arri- 
ved for them voluntarily to abandon the land of their fathers, and 
seek a new home among tribes with whom they were unacquaint- 
ed, and who might prove hostile to them. 

Though favorable to the project, to the end sought by the gov- 
ernmentc he was opposed to its forcible adoption, and recommend- 
ed that time should be allowed to prepare their minds for the ac- 
ceptance of a proposition, which, to them, ns a people, was of such 
vast import, and involving their national existence. He argued 
that as the settlements of the whites grew up around them, when 
their huntintj grounds became changed into wardens and rrrainer- 
ies — when the game they lived upon should retire before the ap- 
proach of the white man into the farther west — they, too, would 
feel the influences of increasing civilization, and adopt, as a neces- 
sity of existence, the proposition of the government. He was in 
favor of acting upon principles of strict right and justice, accom- 
plishing all things by friendly and fair negotiation, and strict adhe- 
rence to treaty stipulations. Throughout his transactions, a sense 
of what was due to the honor of his country and the condition of 
the unfortunate parties with whom he negotiated, was carefully 
kept in view. In his report of the treaty with the Chippewa Indians, 
dated September 30th, 1818, the Gov. remarks — "the negotiator of 
an Indian treaty is not sent upon such a negotiation to ascertain the 
lowest possible sum for which the miserable remnant of those who 
once occupied our country, are v.'illing to treat, and to seize with 
avidity. the occasion to purchase. Certain 1 am, that both you (Sec. 
of War) and the President would censure me, and justly too, were 
I governed in my intercourse with the Indians by such principles. 
The great moral debt which we owe them, can only be discharged 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 



105 



by patient fotbearance, and by a rigid adherence to that system of 
improvement, which we have adopted, and the effects of which are 
already felt in this quarter." In reply to that part of the Secretary's 
instructions concerning the removal of the Indians, Gov^.Cass says : 

"Although I am thoroughly persuaded that it would be better for us, 
and for these Indians, that thoy should emigrate to the country West of 
the Mississippi, or at any rate, West of Lake Michigan, yet it was impos- 
sible to give effect tothatpaitof the instructions which relates to this sub- 
ject, with'.ut hazarding the success of the negotiation. An indisposition to 
abandon the country so lon^ occupied by tlieir tribes; an hereditary en- 
mity to many of the Western Indians, and a suspicion of our motives, are 
the prominent causes which, for the present defeat this plan. When they 
are surrounded by our settlements, and brougiit in contact with our peo- 
ple, they will be more disposed to emigrate." 

On a subsequent occasion, the same just and humane views 
were advocated by him. In fact his intercourse with these people 
was always of a character to command their respect and ensure 
their confidence and friendship for him personally. 

A striking instance of this occurred at the treaty of the Chip- 
pewas in September, 1819, where six millions of acres bordering 
on the Saginaw river and tributaries, were acquired. After the 
treaty, when the Governor had left, the Indians deputed their chief 
and orator, Washmenondeguet, to overtake him and express to him 
their entire satisfaction with the arrangement, and their thankful- 
ness for the kindness and attention shown to them. 

One source of great annoyance and damage to the people of 
Michigan, was the annual assemblage of Indians at Maiden, the 
British post at the mouth of the Detroit river, and at Drummond's 
Island in the northern peninsula, to receive gifts and presents from 
the British Government. These two points were the principal 
stations of the Indian department of the British Government, to 
which the savages resorted annually by thousands. They had 
been accustomed to visit those places yearly, long previous to the 
war of 1812, and after its close continued to do so for several 
years. In the month of July, generally, they thronged into the 
town of Maiden, to receive their share of the spoils to be distribu- 
ted. They came from long distances — the Chippewa from Sagi. 
naw — the Pottawatomie from Lake Michigan — the Fox and Sac 
from the Mississippi, all met there to receive the bounty of their 
"Great Father," who lived over the "big water." Presents, amount- 
ing in value to several thousand dollars, wei^e bestowed upon 



106 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

it 

them. Jii passing through the settlements of the interior, these 
Indians, instigated by malice and dislike towards our people, com- 
mitted depredations upon their property, robbing and plundering 
whenever they could lay their hands on anything portable. Nor 
was this the extent of the evil arising from this custom. A feel- 
ing of attachment for those who bestowed upon them valuable and 
costly gifts, was the natural consequence of this system of subsidy, 
the effect of which could not be otherwise than injurious to the 
United States. Even in time of peace the evils were sensibly felt, 
and in the event of war, apprehensions of still worse consequen- 
ces were entertained by those conversant with Indian characteris- 
tics. Governor Cass witnessed and dreaded the influence which 
this practice, whicli commenced in 1796, exerted upon the minds 
of Indians, with whom he was so often brought in contact. Sev- 
eral attempts were made by him to dissuade them from visiting 
Maiden, but without success. They could not be persuaded to 
forego the benefits accruing to them from the liberalitv of a for- 
eign power. The attention of the government was directed to 
this important n^atter, but it appears to have been .suffered to pass 
unattended to|; and what seems most singular, is that the English 
government should have been permitted to retain possession of 
Drummond's Island, for the purpose of receiving the Indians there, 
as late as the latter part of the year 1825, its location within the 
bounds and jurisdiction of the United State.-, having been long 
previously settled by the treaty of peace. 

These visits were not without their inconveniences to the peo" 
pie who encouraged them. To the citizens of Maiden the Indi- 
ans were almost an intolerable nuisance. They encamped in and 
around the town ; amused themselves with their customary sports 
and games, and being generally intoxicated, were exceedingly 
troublesome. Tiie greater portion of them were filthy in appear- 
ance, and their rags bore evidence of their slothful and indolent 
manner of life. Their dress consisted usually of a cotton or cali- 
co shirt, leggins and blanket ; their feet were protected by moc- 
casins. The Sacs were an exception as to the shirt. That, they 
considered as exclusively an article of female apparel, and there- 
fore would not wear any ; they, however, wore leggins, and cov- 
ered themselves with a blanket. Their heads were shaved close 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 107 

to the scalp, except a narrow strip commencing forward of the 
top and extending down the back of the head. This strip of hair 
was allowed to grow six inches m length, was made to stand erect, 
painted 'red and ornamented with feathers. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Messa<^e to the Legislative Council of 1820 — Boundary line between Michigan 
and Ohio— Constitutional Convention — Action ofCongress in defining bounda- 
ry as a condition of admission of Michigan into the Union — Action of the two 
Conventions — Final admission —Democratic tone of (iov. Cass' messag-es. 

At the annual session of the Legislative Council in 1826, Gov. 
Cass, in his messasje, directed the attention of the Council to the 
leading subjects requiring their consideration. Notwithstanding 
his duties, as Superintendent of Indian affairs, occupied the great- 
er portion of his time and attention during the year, and required 
his personal attendance at different places many miles distant from 
the capital of the territory, the wants and requirements of his civil 
jurisdiction were not neglected or overlooked. Among the princi- 
pal topics of the message, was the boundary line separating the 
territory from the jurisdiction of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. In 
defining the geographical limits of Ohio, due regard to the rights 
of Michigan appears to have escaped attention. 

The southern boundary of the territory of Michigan, as run by 
authority of the United States, was a line running due east from 
the southern extremity of Lake Michigan to Lake Erie. The legis- 
lature of Ohio contended that this line was declared to be the 
northern boundary of Ohio, by Congress in 1802, and was accep- 
ted by the people of Ohio, then about to become a State, with this 
provision, however, that if the southerly bend or extreme of Lake 
Michigan, should extend so far south, that a line drawn due east 
from it should not mtersect Lake Erie, or if it should intersect Lake 
Erie east of the mouth of the Miami river, then in that case, with 
the assent of Congress, the northern boundary of the State should 
be established by, and extend to a direct line running from the 
southern extremity of Lake Michigan, to the most northerly cape of 
Miami Bay, after intersecting the due north line from the mouth of 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 



109 



the Great Miami, as aforesaid; tlience northeast to the territoral 
line, and by said line to the Pennsylvania line. 

Upon this subject of so great interest to the people of the terri- 
tory, the Governor expressed his views clearly and unmistakably. 
Familiar with every public act, relating to the territory, to its most 
minute detail, there was no one who so well understood its rightful 
claims. Although the question is now settled, it may be interest- 
ing to know what was the opinion, at the commencement of the 
controversy, of one who was conversant with every page and line 
of Congressional enactments affecting the organization of Michi- 
gan. The following extract from the Governor's message to the 
Leorislative Council, delivered in November, 1826, will shew in 
what light he viewed the encroachments made under apparent sanc- 
tion of law, upon the lawful possessions of Michigan :~ 

" The Legislature of the State of Ohio, has contended that the north- 
ern boundary of that State, is a line run directly from the southern ex- 
treme of Lake Michigan to the north cape of Miami Bay. The line ac- 
tually run under the authority of the United States, and in conformiiy with 
the various acts of Congress upon the subject, commences at thesouthern 
extreme of Lake Michigan, and proceeds due east to Lake Erie. The 
country nortl?of thit line, and bounding upon Ohio, is subject to our ju- 
risdiction, and that jurisdiction can only be changed by the authority of 
the General Government. A recolution was introduced into Congress at 
the last session, but not acted on, to provide for a cession to Ohio of the 
country clai[ned by her. Althougli^I consider the right of tiiis territory 
too clear to be shaken, and that o^interests are safe where alone they 
can be affected, still the expression of your sentiments upon the subject, 
would be useful in the discussion it may produce, and I suggest the expe- 
diency of your interference. 

" With Indiana, also, our boundary is unsettled. The ordinance of Con- 
gress of July 13th, 1787, which formed the basis of the governments north 
of the Ohio, provided that a line to be run due east and west from the 
southern extreme of Lake Micliigan to Lake Erie and the Mississippi re- 
spectively, should be the boundary between the States upon the Ohio, and 
those north of them, if Congress should find it expedient to establish more 
than three States. The power thus vested, has been exercised by the ad- 
mission already of three States into the Union, and by the existing pro- 
vision for the admission of at least one more. The original arrangement 
of this matter, is in that part of the ordmance which is declared to be a 
compact, and unaUefable but by mutual ooaseii'i. 

" Virginia, by her act of cession, was a party to the arrangement ; and 
her consent, as well as th it of the States and Territories to be affected, is 
essential to the validity of any change in this instrument. The boundary 
of Indiana bus been extended ten miles north of this line, and as the con- 
sent of the proper parties has never been given to this measure, we have a 
right to expect that ourjust claims will yet be regarded. 

" In like manner, the boundary of Illinois has been extended to the par- 
allel of forty-two degrees thirty minutes, probably forty miles north of the 
line established by the ordinance. How the claims of this territory to the 



110 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

country that severed from it, can be best enforced, and what time it may be 
expedient to urge them, I leave for you to determine. 

"But the/e is a qaestion connected with the existing jurisdiction of Illi- 
nois, which the interests of an important section of country demand should 
be settled without delay. The parallel of forty-two degrees thirty min- 
utes, probably intersects the Mississippi in the vicinity of the Riviere aux 
Fievre. Upon that stream, as is well known, there are various lead mines, 
to which the Indian title has been extinguished, and which are now profit- 
ably and extensively worked. A considerable population is now engaged 
in this business, much of which, there is little reason to doubt, is in the 
county of Crawford. Illinois has recently extended her jurisdiction over 
this settlement, and difficulties have already occurred In the execution of 
process, which threaten serious consequences. It is desirable that provi- 
sion should be made by Congress, for running the temporary line, if the 
boundary cannot be definitively settled ; and it would doubtless promote 
the accomplishment of this measure, should you express your views on that 
subject in a memorial to that body." 

In establishing the boundaries of these several States, the terri- 
torial rights of Michigan were clearly and undeniably infringed, 
and large tracts of fertile country disconnected from her jurisdic- 
tion. These violations subsequently became subjects of serious 
controversy, particularly between Michigan and Ohio. When 
Michigan sought admission into the Union, as a State, Congress 
interposed and definitely fixed the boundary line between the two 
States, by making it a condition of admission that Michigan should 
accede to the boundaries between the States, as set forth in act 
of admission. This act estaWishgl the northern boundary of the 
State of Ohio, as follows : " The northern boundary line of the 
State of Ohio shall be established at, and shall be a direct line 
drawn from the southern extremity of Lake Michigan to the most 
northerly cape of the Maumee (Miami) Bay, after that line, so 
drawn, shall intersect the eastern boundary line of the State of In- 
diana, and from the said north cape of the said bay, northeast to 
the boundary line between the United States and the province of 
Upper Canada, in Lake Erie ; and thence, with the said last men- 
tioned line, to its intersection with the western line of the State 
of Pennsylvania." 

A convention of delegates from the people was chosen to meet 
at the village of Ann Arbor, on the 20th of September, 1S36, to 
accept or reject the terms of admission proposed by Congress. 
After a session of three days, the convention, consisting of forty- 
nine members in attendance, decided, by a majority of seven, not 
to accept the terms of admission. Three delegates were appointed 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. Ill 

by the convention, to attend the following session of Congress, in 
behalf of Michigan, to procure an unconditional admission into 
.the Union, or, if that were noi possible, one more just in its pro- 
visions and more regardful of the well established rights of the 
territory. 

The action of this convention was not sustained by the people 
generally, and means were at once adopted to call anotlier. Ac- 
cordingly, another convention assembled at the same place, in De- 
cember of the same year, and, after one day's session, on the 15th 
of that month, unanimously resolved to assent to the requirement 
of the act of Congress, at the same time declaring it to be the 
opinion of the convention, — 

"That the Congress of the United States had no constitutional 
right to require the assent aforesaid, as a condition preliminary to 
the admission of the State into the Union. 

" Nevertheless, as the Congress have required such assent to the 
condition, and as the interest and prosperity of the State will be 
greatly advanced by our immediate admission into the Union, as 
one of its sovereign States ; and the people of the said State, are 
solicitous to give to her sister States, and to the world, unequivo- 
cal proof of her desire to promote the tranquility and harmony of 
the confederacy, and to perpetuate the unity, liberty, and prosperi- 
ty of the country ; 

" Therefore, he it resolved, by the people of Michigan in conven- 
tion assembled, that the assent required in the foregoing recited 
act of the Congress of the United States, is hereby given." 

When the proceedings of this latter convention were submitted 
to Congress, the validity of the convention was questioned, inas- 
much as it was not, as the prior one had been, authorized by any 
legislative act, but was called by parties friendly to immediate ad- 
mission, and being only an expression of a portion of the people 
of Michigan, not binding upon those who had refused to partici- 
pate. The character of the proceedings prevented many members 
from voting in favor of the final act of admission ; but, after much 
discussion, the act "to admit the State of Michigan into the Union 
upon an equal footing with the original States," was passed and 
became a law on the 26th day of January, in the year 18:37. 
The thoroughly democratic tone of the Governors messages, 



112 LIFE OF GENERAL CAS&. 

especially in reference to the accountability of public officers to 
the people, received from all parties the highest commendation. 
He assumed the position, that the purity of Government, the in- 
corruptibility of officers, was in proportion as they were closely or 
remotely connected with the true sovereigns of the country — the 
source of all power — the people. He says in his message of No- 
vember 2d, 1826 : " I have heretofore submitted to the Legisla- 
ture, my views in relation to the establishment of a system of 
township government ; but I deem the subject so important, that I 
must asain recommend it to your attention. These institution^ 
have elsewhere produced the most beneficial effects upon the char- 
acter of the community, and upon the general course of public 
measures. They embrace within their scope, those questions of 
local police, which are interesting to every citizen, and which ev- 
ery citizen is competent to discuss and determine. In the more 
extensive concerns of a county, the necessary regulations for these 
subordinate matters cannot be adopted and enforced. Besides, in 
proportion as all governments recede from the people, they become 
liable to abuse. Whatever authority can be conveniently exercised 
in primary assemblies, may be deposited there with safety. They 
furnish practical schools for the consideration of political subjects; 
and no one can revert to the early history of our revolutionary 
strufTffle, without being sensible, that to their operation we are in- 
debted for much of the energy, unanimity, and intelligence which 
were displayed by our government, and people, at that momentous 

crisis." 

In a special message, transmitted by Governor Cass, to the Le- 
gislative Council, November 22d, 1826, he expresses the follow- 
ing sentiments on the same subject : " The act of Congress, chang- 
ing the mode of appointments to office, in this territory, by requi- 
rino- that nominations should be made by the Governor to the 
Council, and the act of the Territorial Legislature, limiting the 
tenure of certain offices, have made important changes in this 
branch of our local government. 

" It appears to me proper, on the first occasion of a general ap- 
pointment to office, that I should submit to you, principles by which 
I shall be guided, in the discharge of that portion of the duty which 
is entrusted to me. 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 113 

*' It is necessary that all persons, bearing office, should possess 
the proper qualifications and enjoy the confidence of the commu- 
nity. Whenever either of these requisites is wanting, the office 
will be executed with diminished usefulness. It is not possible, 
that the comparative claims of all who are proposed, or who are 
applicants, can be known to the nominating power. He must 
proceed upon such information as may be given to him. The au- 
thority is vested in him, not for his own sake, but for that of the 
community, I have always considered myself, in the execution of 
this duty, a trustee for the public, called upon to perform a speci. 
fie act, in which they alone were interested. There are circum- 
stances, connected with the nature and duties of certain offices, 
and with the exercise of public suffrage, which render it inexpe- 
dient, that all appointments should be filled by popular elections. 
Where, however, this authority can be deposited with most safety, 
is a political problem, respecting which much difference of senti- 
ment has prevailed in the United States. Latterly, the opinion 
has gained ground that the constitution of the general govern- 
ment furnishes the best model for imitation, and that the right of 
nomination, vested in a single individual, and the right of con- 
firmation or rejection, vested in a representative body, afforded the 
greatest security which can be devised for the prudent exercise of 
this power. An elective body is too often without responsibility, 
and a single individual without control. By uniting the advanta- 
ges of both, we provide, as far as human institutions can do, 
against the abuse of this delegated authority. 

" An expression of the public opinion ought to have great weight 
in all nominations to office. Where it is unanimous or uncontra- 
dicted, it should be conclusive. In county offices, newly created 
or occasionally vacated, where the citizens assemble upon proper 
notice, and without any concealment, and by the form of an elec- 
tion, recommend a person to office, I can conceive few reasons 
which would justify the neglect of such an application. The pro- 
cess appears to me as little liable to objection as any other by 
which the qualifications of candidates can be ascertained. But 
the practical difficulty is, that there is frequently such a contrari- 
ety of sentiment, that no general opinion can be collected. Coun- 
ter meetings are held, and remonstrances transmitted, and different 



114 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

names are presented to the Executive for each office, supported 
by the recommendation of respectable citizens. Under such cir- 
cumstances, there is but a choice of difficulties, and a selection 
must be made, as the facts in each case may seem to require. I 
sincerely trust, when any of our fellow citizens find the person 
recommended by them has not received the office applied for, that 
they will attribute the result to the duty of examining the whole 
ground, and of attending to all the representations which may be 
made, and not to the slightest disregard of their wishes or opin- 
ions. It is a task which, however it may be executed with deli- 
cacy, must yet be executed with firmness." 

On another occasion, the Governor sent the following special 
message to the Council : — 

" At the late session of Congress, an act was passed, extending to the 
citizens of Florida and Arkansas the privilege of choosing almost all their 
officers holding their offices under territorial laws ; and authorizing the 
local legislature to appoint the few not eligible by the people. I see no 
reason why the principles of this act, should not be e.xtended to this terri- 
tory, and I submit for your consideration the expediency of an application 
to Congress for that purpose. It will be found that appointments to office 
thus made, will l)e more satisfactory than when they are made upon the 
nomination of a single individual. The people in their respective coun- 
ties are better acquainted with the qualifications of candida;;es for county 
offices, than an Executive magistrate can be, and more competent to de- 
termine upon them. This measure would give to the people a direct and 
proper intiuence in the management of their affairs — an influence which 
at all times ought to be exerted in a republican government, and which 
will be more fully exerted in that change in our political condition to which 
we are rapidly appr(mching." 

The following opinions of Governor Cass, on ill-advised and fre- 
quent legislation, altering, amending, and repealing laws only par- 
tially tested, will be admitted by every one to be sound and judi- 
cious, and abundantly supported by the experience of the last thir- 
ty years. He says : — 

"Our code of laws must accommodate itself to the progress of our insti- 
tutions, and to the more important changes in public opinion. A little ob- 
servation and reflection, however, will satisfy us that in the United States, 
generally, legislative experiments have been made too frequently, and with 
too much facdity. Laws are no sooner known, than they are repealed. 
Important innovations are made upon established principles; and experi- 
ence, the only sure test in matters of legislation, soon demonstrates their 
ineffic acy, and they give way to some statutory provision. I trust that a 
character of permanency will be given to the laws you are about to revise, 
and that after engrafting upon them such provisions as have been found 
salutary, they will be left to operate until our legal institutions shall be 
matured by time and experience." 



CHAPTER VIII. 

"Gov. Cass is called by Gen. Jackson to the Head of the War Department— Mo- 
tives prompting the selection of Gov. Cass — The popularity of the l\ew Cabi- 
net — Proceedings of the citizens of Detroit on the departure of Gov. Cass for 
Washington — Address of Major Biddie in behalf of the people of Michigan — 
Reply of Gov. Cass — He assumes the duties of the department — His Indian 
policy while Secretary — Black Hawk war — His preparations to bring the con- 
test to a speedy close — Reforms introduced by Gov. Cass in his department — 
Their popularity — The Indian difficulties in Georgia— Decision of the Supreme 
Court of The United States reviewed by Gov. Cass — His position sustained by 
the people and adopted by the President — Defences of the Country— Gov. 
Cass' views on the subject — Controversy between the Bank of United States 
and the admiuistration — JNuIlification — Action of the administration. 

In 1831, upon the re-organization, of Gen Jackson's Cabinet, 
Governor Cass was called by that remarkable man, to the head 
of the department of war. The venerable patriot who then held 
the office of President, possessed among characteristics which 
made him pre-eminent over his fellow men, that of an accurate 
and ready perception of the character and capacity of others. The 
peculiar circumstances attending the dissolution of his first cabi- 
net ; his own position before the American people, as one, from 
whom much was expected, deeply impressed him with the para- 
mount necessity of calling around him, to aid him in the discharge 
of his high responsibility, the first minds of the nation. More than 
ever, was the utmost care and prudence needful in the selection 
of his advisers. In this crisis the President justified by his action, 
his reputation for sound judgment and foresight. He called to his 
Cabinet, Edward Livingston of Louisiana, as Secretary of State ; 
Levi Woodbury of New Hampshire, Secretary of the Navy ; Louis 
McLane of Maryland, Secretary of the Treasury ; Lewis Cass of 
Michigan, Secretary of War. Roger B. Taney of Maryland was 
appointed Attorney General. Public opinion at once, decided that 
a more judicious or popular cabinet could not be formed. The 
individuals composing it, were well known throughout the country, 
as among the most distinguished men of the nation, of whom the 
Republic was proud. They had all been in public life, and were 



116 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

eminent for their talents, patriotism, business capacities, integrity 
and devotion to the welfare of the people. It is true, that mur- 
murs were heard, emanating from aspirants for Cabinet honors, 
that the President should seek a confidential adviser from among 
the wilds of a far distant territory, rather than from the populous 
cities and towns of the older States. But Gen. Jackson knew his 
own position and felt the weighty responsibility that had been 
thrown upon him. Deference to the claims of the older communi- 
ties, he sufficiently e.xhibited in the formation of his Cabinet. The 
north east, the south and the centre of the Union were there rep- 
resented by their distinguished men. The growth of the West, 
the sufferings of her people in time of war, the residence there of 
men who had experienced all the miseries, and triumphed over the 
sufferings of border warfare, called for direct participation in the 
Councils of the Government. General Jackson's own experience 
taught him, who would be the proper man to represent that section 
of our country in his Cabinet. Subsequent events confirmed 
the wisdom of his selection, and the correctness of the public opin- 
ion which approved his choice. The influence of such men, upon 
the destiny of the country, soon made itself manifest The energy 
with which the administration of the government was carried on, 
excited the admiration of the candid of al! parties. It seemed as 
if a new spirit had been infused into the body politic. New ave- 
nues for individual enterprize presented themselves, and the 
old ones were occupied with renewed vigor. The fact was estab- 
lished, that the prosperity and advancement of the country, were con- 
nected more closely, than they would seem to be to the casual ob- 
server, with the rigorous administration of the General Govern- 
ment. In proportion as the President and his Cabinet are alert 
and active in securing opportunities for national progression, so 
are the interests of individual members of community promoted. 

The condition of public affairs was such under the administra- 
tion of Gen. Jackson and his constitutional advisers, that every 
American citizen, pointed with admiration and pride to the pro- 
gress of our country. Long pending negotiations, with England, 
involving questions of trade and commerce of the highest interest 
to our business community, were successfully terminated. Claims 
against France, Denmark^ Sweden and Naples were adjusted and 



LIFE OF GENEKAL CASS. 117 

Indemnity obtained, commercial treaties, opening new and advan- 
tageous sources of trade, were made. Our ships found their way 
in peaceable and profitable communication with countries, from 
which they had been previously excluded. Unsettled difficulties 
were placed in process of amicable and speedy arrangement, and 
where it was apparent that negotiation would not obtain for our 
country our just rights, the determined spirt of the administration 
pointed to the last resort. Injuries were redressed; outrages, 
however trivial, affecting the honor of the country were punished. 
In every foreign court, in all countries, and upon every sea, the 
administration directed its efforts to the promotion of public in- 
terests, and the maintenance and preservation of national honor 
and faith. The nation never stood higher in the eye of the world, 
nor could she ever more safely and justly challenge the world to 
produce an equal. Such was the condition of this Republic, when 
Lewis Cass formed one of the President's Cabinet. 

The people of Michigan, over whom he had so long presided; 
whose public affairs he had administered for eighteen years, com- 
mencing at a period when gloom and desolation covered the land, 
among whom he had lived and associated, and become almost to 
each one a personal friend, were averse to his acceptance of any 
office which would require the severance of the political and per- 
sonal connection between them. The same sense of duty which 
had actuated him to exchange in 1813 the privileges and comforts 
of settled civilization for the hazards and privations of frontier 
life in the wilds of Michigan territory, with hostile and blood- 
thirsty savages in a state of warfare — now prompted him to obey 
the voice of his country, through her Chief Magistrate, calling 
him to a new and more extended sphere of action. 

Gov. Cass accepted the appointment tendered to him by Gen. 
Jackson. On the eve of his departure from Michigan, a number 
of citizens, without distinction of party, assembled at a public 
dinner, given in compliment to Governor Cass, to testify their re- 
spect and friendly feelings for their distinguished fellow citizen. 

The proceedings on this occasion demonstrate so clearly the 
high estimation in which the Governor was regarded by all, that a 
perusal of the proceedings and address of the President of the 
day, and the reply of Governor Cass, will afford a more correct 



118 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

view of the relations existing between them, than any other mode 
of narration. 

The address of Major John Biddle, who presided at the occa- 
sion, was as follows : 

Your Excellency — Our fellow citizens have assigned to me the office 
of expressing the sentiments which your intended departure from among 
them has universally called forth. To be the organ of conveying to you 
these sentiments is a most grateful duty, sympathising, as I do, very sin- 
cerely, in the general feeling. 

Many of us have witnessed your administration of the affairs of this 
Territory for a series of years, which embrace a large portion of the ac- 
tive period of life. The situation is one of the most difficult to which an 
American citizen can be called. The public officer who is delegated, 
without the sanction of their suffrages, over the affairs of a people else- 
where accustomed to exercise, in its fullest extent, the right of self-gov- 
ernment, is regarded with no indulgent feelings. The relation is truly 
colonial ; and the history of Territories, like other colonial history, has 
been too often a mere chronicle of the feuds of the governing and the 
governed, exhibiting a domineering and arbitrary temper on the one side, 
met by a blind and intemperate opposition on the other. 

From the evils of such a state of things, we have happily been exempt- 
ed. You have preserved harmony by wisely conceding to public opinion 
that weight to which it is entitled under every government, whatever may 
be its forms ; thus giving to your measures the support of the only au- 
thority to which the habits of American citizens will allow them cheer- 
fully to submit. The executive powers of the Territory have been ad- 
ministered in the spirit of republican habits and principles too firmly fixed 
to yield to temporary circumstances, leaving the people nothing to desire 
but an occasion to manifest their approbation, by bestowing themselves 
an authority so satisfactorily exercised. 

Of the manner in which yourself and most estimable family have per- 
formed the courtesies, as well as the graver duties of private life, I will 
permit myself to say no more than that it has been duly appreciated, and 
has left an impression not easily to be effaced. 

The people of Michigan will long remember your zealous and success- 
ful exertions to promote their welfare ; and, sir, if the present separation 
should prove a final one, be assured that they will look, with affectionate 
interest, to your future career, hoping that in a more extended field of use- 
fulness, it may be as honorable to yourself and as beneficial to your fel- 
low citizens, as that has been which you are now about to terminate. Al- 
low me to propose. 

Lewis Cass — Health and happiness attend his future course. May 
the people of the United States duly appreciate the talents and integrity 
which iVIichigan has contributed to the public service of the Union." 

The delivery of this address and sentiment was received by the 
assembled multitude with great and sincere enthusiasm. The 
speaker had struck a chord which found sympathy in the hearts of 
all present, and could only find expression in loud and prolonged 
cheers. When the plaudits and excitement had subsided, Gover- 
nor Cass rose and responded as follows : — 

Fellow Citize.ns — I return my sincere thanks for this distinguished 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 119 

mark of your regard, as well as for the very kind manner in which your 
sentiments have been conveyed to me, by the gentleman who has been 
called to preside at this festive board. This numerous and respectable 
assemblage furnishes but another manifestation of that kindness which 
has never deserted me, during the period of eighteen years, in which I 
have administered the Executive department of the Territorial Govern- 
ment, and under many trying circumstances, both in peace and war. At 
the commencement of that period, the Territory had just been rescued 
from the grasp of an enemy. Its population was small, its resources ex- 
hausted, its prospects cheerless. The operations of the war had pressed 
heavily upon it, and scenes of suffering and oppression had been exhibit- 
ed, to which, in the annals of modern warfare, we may vainly seek a par- 
allel. We have only to look around us to be sensible how great is the 
change which has since taken place in our condition. The Peninsula has 
been explored in every direction, and its advantages ascertained and de- 
veloped. 

The current of emigration has reached us, and is spreading over our 
forests and prairies. Settlements have been formed, villages founded, and 
roads opened in every direction. All the elements of social order and 
prosperity have been called into action, and are combining to form an- 
other republic, almost prepared to ask admission into that confederacy, 
which, protecting all in its hour of security, may appeal to all in its hour 
of danger, should danger ever approach it. This great advantage is due 
to the intelligence, industry, and enterprise of our countrymen. These 
causes will continue to operate, until the vast plain extending from Lake 
Erie to Lake Michigan, shall furnish through its whole extent another ex- 
ample of the powerful effects of free institutions upon the progress and 
prosperity of a country. 

I have been called, fellow citizens, to another sphere of action. To 
one where your generou>! confidence cannot alone support me ; and where, 
I am apprehensive, I shall find the duties as far beyond my abilities, as 
the appointment itself was beyond my expectations. 

But wherever I may go,- or whatever fortune may await me, I shall cher- 
ish with unfading recollection, the events of this day, and the sentiments 
you have expressed towards myself, and towards those whom nature and 
affection have made the nearest and dearest to me. 

In severing the connexion which has heretofore united rae to the Ter- 
ritory, permit me to thank you for all the kindness I have received from 
you. I can claim only the merit of having endeavored faithfully to exe- 
cute the trust reposed in me : and if, at the termination of my long period 
of service, I leave you without a party for or against the Executive, to 
your partiality, far more than to my services, must this result be attribu- 
ted. For that forbearance, as well as for all sther marks of your favor, 
and especially for this, the latest and the last, I beg leave to express my 
feelings in a sentiment — 

The citizens of Michigan — May they be as prosperous as they have been 
to me kind and gener .us. 

It has rarely been the good fortune of an Executive officer, cloth- 
ed with such extraordinary powers, as were the Governors of the 
Territories, by virtue of the ordinance of 1787, to retire from 
official station, with so little complaint, or without having afforded 
opportunities, where they might be preferred against him. With 
the generous feelings, characteristic of the people of the West, 



120 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

which makes them desirous to render justice where it is due, the 
people of Michigan did not hesitate to proclaim with united voice, 
their satisfaction with the Governor's administration, and their un- 
feigned regret, when their political connection was closed. 

In the administration of the affairs of the War department, ne- 
essarily onerous and numerous, Gov. Cass brought to bear all the 
energies of his nature, and the wisdom and experience of his prac- 
ticed and active mind. In his first report, in December, 1831, he 
directed the attention of the Executive and Congress, to the ne- 
cessity of certain changes and reforms, calculated to expedite the 
business of the department, and render more efficient that arm of na- 
tional defence committed to his guardianship. Every branch of 
its various ramifications received his attention, and the most mi- 
nute details, elucidating his views, were presented, so that convic- 
tion of the justness and importance of his suggestions could not 
fail to be the result of an examination of his positions. The great 
question of Indian policy, was more directly under his control, 
than when acting as Gov. of Michigan. To the management of 
this delicate subject, he applied the knowledge acquired by years 
of personal intercourse with those people. 

In his report. Gov Cass entered into an extended view of their 
condition and the policy and duty of the government towards them. 
The experience of a series of years, served to confirm his early 
formed opinion, that the removal of the great body of Indians to 
the west of the Mississippi, must ultimately be consummated. 
The Indian question was at one time fraught with momentous con- 
sequences, to the people of the United States, and was the subject 
of frequent and angry discussion, as well as of misrepresentation 
and accusation against the justice and honor of the government; 
and at the present day, requires continued and watchful attention. 

No man, could more satisfiictorily clear it of its difficulties and 
perplexities, or devise means to avoid them, than Gov. Cass. A 
knowledge of his opinions, is consequently indispensable to a cor- 
rect understanding of so intricate a subject. He remarks on this 
question in his report. 

"The condition and prospects of the aboriginal tribes within the limits 
of the United States, are yet the subjects of anxious solicitude to the 
Government. In some of the States, they have been brought within the 
operation of the ordinary municipal laws, and these regulations have been 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 



121 



abrotrated by Legislative enactments. Tliis procedure renders most of 
the provisions of the various enactments of Congress upon this subject 
inoperative; and a crisis in our Indian affairs, has evidently arrived, 
which calls for the establishment of a system of policy adapted to the 
existing state of things, and calculated to fix upon a permanent basis the 
future destiny of the Indians. Whatever change may be contemplated 
in their situation or condition, no one will advocate the employment of 
force or improper influence in effecting it. It is due to the character of 
the o-overnment and the feelings of the country, not less than to the moral 
and physical imbecility of this unhappy race, that a spirit of kindness and 
forbearance should mark the whole course of our intercommunication 
with them. The great object, after satisfying ourselves, what would best 
ensure their permanent welfare, should be to satisfy them of the integrity 
of our views" and of the wisdom of the course recommended to them. 

"The Indians who are placed in immediate contact with our settle- 
ments, have now the alternative of remaining in their present positions, 
or of migrating to the country west of the Mississippi." 

The question is then examined by the Secretary, whether the 
Indians could maintain their independence, or even preserve their 
existence, while in contiguity with the settled portions of the coun- 
try. The subject is most ably aad amply discussed. The conclu- 
sion arrived at is, that removal from the contact of civilization is 
the only alternative left them to ensure their national perpetuity. 

" A change of residence therefore, from their present positions to the 
regions west of the Mississippi, presents the only hope of permanent es- 
tablishment, and improvement. That it will be attended with inconvenien- 
ces and sacrifices no one can doubt. The associations, which bind the 
Indians to the land of their forefathers, are strong and enduring; and 
these must be broken by their migration. But they are also broken by 
our citizens, who every day encounter all the difficulties of similar chan- 
ges in pursuit of the means of support. And the experiments that have 
been made satisfactorily shew, that by proper precautions, and liberal ap- 
propriations, the removal and establishment of the Indians can be effec- 
ted with little comparative trouble to them or us. Why then should the 
. policy of the measure be disputed or opposed? The whole subject has 
materially changed, even within a few years ; and the imposing consider- 
l^ion it now presents, and which is every day gaining new force, calls up- 
on the government and the country to determine what is required on our 
part, and what course shall be recommended to the Indians. ^If they re- 
main, they must decline and eventually disappear. Such is the result of 
all experience. If thev remove, they may be comfortably established, and 
their moral and physical condition ameliorated. It is certainly better for 
them to meet the difficulties of removal, with the probability of an ade- 
quate and final reward, than, yielding to their couotitutional apathy, to sit 
still and perish. 

"The great moral debt we owe to this unhappy race is universally felt 
and acknowledged. Diversities of opinion exist respecting the proper 
mode of discharging this obligation but ita validity is not denied. And 
there certainly are difficulties which may well call for discussion and con- 
sideration. 

For more than two centuries, we have been placed in contact with the 
Indians ; and if this long period has been fruitless in useful results, it has 
not been so in experiments, having in view their improvement. Able 



122 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

men have been investigating their condition, and good men in improving 
it. But all these labors have been as unsuccessful in the issue, as many 
of them were laborious and expensive in their progress. 

" The work has been aided by governments and communities, by public 
opinion, by the obligation of the law, and the sanction of religion. But 
its history furnishes abundant evidence of entire faihire, and every thing 
around us upon the frontiars confirms its truth. The Indians have either 
receded as our settlements advanced, and united their fragments with some 
kindred tribe, or they have attempted to establish themselves upon reser- 
vations, in the vain hope of resisting the pressure upon them, and of 
preserving their peculiar institutions. Those who are nearest to us have 
generally suffered most severely, by the debasing effects of ardent spirits, 
and by the loss of their own principles of restraint, few as these are, 
without the acquisition of ours ; and almost all of them have disappeared, 
crushed by the onward course of events, driven before them. Not one 
instance can be produced in the whole history of the intercourse between 
the Indians and the white men, where the former have been able, in dis- 
tricts surrounded by the latter, to withstand, successfully, the progress of 
those causes, which have elevated one of these races, and depressed the 
other. Such a monument of former successful exertion does not exist. 

"Indolent in his habits, the Indian is opposed to labor ; improvident in 
his mode of life, he has little foresight in providing, or care in preserving. 
Taught from infancy to reverence his own traditions and institutions, he 
is satisfied of their value, and dreads the anger of the Great Spirit, if he 
should depart from the customs of his fathers. Devoted to the use of 
ardent spirits, he abandons himself to its indulgence without restraint. 
War and hunting are his only occupations. He can endure without com- 
plaining the extremity of human suffering ; and if he cannot overcome 
the evils of his situation, he submits to them without repining. He at- 
tributes all the misfortunes of his race to the white man, and looks with 
suspicion upon the offers of assistance that are made him. These traits 
of character, though not universal, are yet general ; and the practical 
difficulty they present, in changing the condition of such a people, is to 
satisfy them of our sincerity, and the value of tlie aid we offer ; to hold 
out to them motives for exertion ; to call into action some powerful feel- 
ing, which shall counteract the tendency of previous impressions. It is 
under such circumstances and with these difficulties in view, that the 
government has been called upon to determine what arrangements shall 
be made for the permanent establishment of the Indians. Shall they be 
advised to remain or remove ? If the former, their fate is written in the 
annals of their race ; if the latter, we may yet hope to see them renovated 
in character and condition, by our example and instruction and their ex- 
ertions." 

The basis of a plan for the removal and permanent establishment 
of the Indians west of the Mississippi, was set forth in the report 
of Gov. Cass. It was one which embraced certain fundamental 
principles obviously arising out of the nature of the scheme, and, if 
adopted, would constitute the best foundation for the exertions of 
the government and the welfare of the Indians. He proposed. 
First, That the country assigned to them should be guaranteed to 
them and their descendants, so long as they should continue to oc- 
cupy it, and that it should be protected from encroachment of the 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 123 

settlements of the whites. Second, that ardent spirits should be 
excluded from the new country. Third, that the United States 
should be at all times prepared with sufficient force to suppres hos- 
tilities which might occur among the different tribes. Fourth, 
encouragement to severalty of property, and such provision for its 
security as might be necessary for its enjoyment, not afforded by 
their own regulations. Fifth, assistance and instruction in the 
prosecution of agricultural pursuits. Sixth — the enjoyment of 
their peculiar institutions not incompatible with their own safety 
and that of the people of the United States near them, and with the 
objects of their prosperity and improvement. Seventh — the event- 
ual employment of persons to nistruct them in the acquirement of 
civilization. 

The Indian question had its origin at an early day in the formation 
of our government. Successive years had not contributed to remove 
the difficulties which encumbered it, and, although every administra- 
tion in its intercourse with the gradually wasting nation,which in vain 
strove to save itself, was marked with the highest degree of justice and 
benevolence, disaffected and interested persons found what they 
considered sufficient grounds to traduce the motives and actions 
of the Government. Like other great and commanding questions, 
it at length became involved with party politics, and, of course, 
subject to all the degrees of misrepresentation and accusation, 
which forms so large a component of party warfare. The recom- 
mendations of Gov. Cass, and the action of the administration 
thereon, did not escape the virulence of party feeling. And yet, 
the proposed plan was, in fact, but the practical realization of the 
intentions of his predecessors. There were but few, who devoted 
attention to the subject, who were not satisfied, by the arguments 
of the Secretary of War, that the views of the Administration were 
correct — that it was morally and physically impossible for the In- 
dians to exist in proximity to, and surrounded by the whites ; that 
as a people, they could not be civilized ; that they could not be 
permitted to live an independent people, governed by their own 
regulations, within the limits of a sovereign State. There must, 
of necessity, be a conflict between the Indians and the state au- 
thorities, and, worse than that, between the general government 
and the states. Hence the administration of Gen. Jackson adop- 



124 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

ted the only'alternative, the removal of the Indian?. To Gov. Cass 
belonged the accomplishment of this object. The wishes and in- 
tentions of the Government were explained to them — they were 
treated as beings, capable of understanding their true interests ; 
no unfair dealing, no coercive means were adopted ; their agree- 
ment to remove was voluntary, and obtained by negotiation and 
explanation ; they were convinced that their existence depended 
upon acquiescence in the views of the Government, and they wise- 
ly assented to the ar rangements recommended by the Secretary of 
War. 

The principles urged by Gov. Cass as those which should govern 
the connection between our government and the Indian tribes, 
were adhered to in its subsequent action. An extensive and fer- 
tile country was assigned to them. Commissioners were sent to 
visit the tribes who had already emigrated, to arrange conflicting 
claims ; to settle disputed questions of boundary ; to reconcile 
hostile tribes, and to carry out the humane and just intentions of 
the Government, 

In the summer of 1832, the acrgressions of the Sac and Fox tribes 
of Indians had become so daring and extensive, as to call for the 
interposition of the government. The Secretary of War, (Gov. 
Cass,) versed in Indian character, and knowing their mode of war- 
fare, adopted prompt and active measures for their subjugation 
and punishment. The United States soldiers, stationed in the vi- 
cinity of the scene of outrage, were concentrated under the com- 
mand of Gen. Atkinson, and marched to the locality of the enemy. 
The militia of the State of Illinois and of the western part of the 
territory of Michigan, were called out in defence of the frontier. 
Troops were also sent from posts on the Atlantic, to the frontier 
establishments, to co-operate with the command of Gen. Atkinson. 
Gen. Scott accompanied and commanded the soldiers from the 
eastern posts. The forces under Gen. Atkinson marched to the 
ground where it was supposed the Indians, under Black Hawk, 
were encamped. When they reached the spot, it was found that 
the Indians had withdrawn upon their approach. Gen. Dodge was 
dispatched in pursuit. He overtook them on the evening of the 
21st of July, and had a battle with a band of about three hundred 
Sacs, at a place called Petit Roche, near the Wisconsin river, and 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 125 

about thirty miles from Fort Winnebago. The Indians retreated 
towards the river, after fifty of their number were killed. On the 
twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth of July, Gen. Atkinson, with 
thirteen hundred men, crossed the Wisconsin, and followed the 
trail of the enemy until the second day of August, when they came 
up with the main body of the Indians, on the left bank of the Mis- 
sissippi, opposite the mouth of the Iowa river. A battle ensued, 
in which the Indians were routed and driven from their position. 
One hundred and fifty of them were killed, as near as could be 
ascertained. The remnant of the band crossed the river and fled 
into the interior. Black Hawk, with his family, and the Prophet, 
his brother, were not found among any of the bands of Indians con- 
quered by the troops. They had fled up the Mississippi, for refuge, 
among the Winnebagoes, who not long after the last decisive bat- 
tle brought both Black Hawk and the Prophet, and delivered them 
up to our army. 

The energy and promptitude exhibited by the War Department, 
in adopting at the outset ample and effective means for conquering 
the refractory Indians, undoubtedly saved the country from the 
expense and horrors of a protracted Indian warfare, consisting of 
a series of skirmishes and fights between small parties of both for- 
ces. The campaign was soon terminated by the submission of the 
hostile tribes, who were well satisfied, after witnessing the determi- 
nation of the government to bring them under subjection, to enter 
into a treaty of peace, on the terms of the conquering party. Black 
Hawk and the Prophet, who were the principal instigators of this 
war, were delivered to the President of the United States, and re- 
tained for some time as hostages, for the faithful maintenance on 
the part of the Indians, of their treaty stipulations. 

Gov. Cass introduced many reforms into the details of the man- 
agement of the several public interests under charge of the War 
Department. Intimately associated in early life for a long period, 
with the soldier, while on actual service, he could not fail to ob- 
serve, that very much might be effected by the Head of the War 
Department, which would contribute to the comfort of the soldier, 
while it entailed no increase of expenditure upon the government. 
A slight attention to apparently trivial evils would be all that would 
be required to accomplish important results. He had become sat- 



126 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

isfied that many of the evils incident to military establishments 
were attributable to habits of intemperance acquired by the sol- 
diers, and not prevented, or sought to be, by military regulations. 
As a highly necessary step towards the eradication of a custom so 
pregnant with dangerous consequences, he introduced a salutary 
change in the subsistence regulations of the army. In lieu of spir- 
ituous liquor which had been dealt out to each soldier as a part of 
his daily rations, he established a commutation therefor, by a spe- 
cific sum in money paid to each soldier, equal in amount to the 
value of the liquor to which he was entitled. Beneficial effects 
resulted from this change, although its full influence was partially 
ottlstructed by the opportunity of purchasing from the suttlers of 
the posts the deleterious article sought to be excluded. Subse- 
quently, by act of Congress, coffee and sugar were substituted for 
the money paid for the commutation, and the suttlers prohibited 
from selling spirituous liquors to the soldiers, or introducing it in- 
to the military posts, except as part of the hospital stores, to be 
used in cases of sickness. Public opinion, as well as the acqui- 
escence of the parties mostly interested in this step of reform, sus- 
tained the Secretary of War in his adoption of a measure so plainly 
and forcibly conducive to the well being of the soldier as a man, and 
to the more efficient and orderly conduct of the army in general. 

The advantages to be derived from well disciplined mounted 
men, especially during Indian hostilities ; of an increased and more 
efficient organization of the topographical corps, were urged in the 
report of the Secretary for the year 1832, with great force and 
ability. In this report, also, was an extended view of the condition 
of the Indians, and ot the policy and duty of the government to- 
wards them. Gov. Cass also abolished the custom of parading and 
inspecting the soldiers on the Sabbath ; thus enabling them to de- 
vote their time, on that day, to the proper observance of its sacred 
demands upon their attention. 

It was at this period that the controversy between the Govern- 
ment and the state of Georgia, reached its crisis. The Chero- 
kees had conceived the idea that by treaties between their nation 
and the United States, the right to a separate and independent 
government, within the limits of the state of Georgia, was guaran- 
teed to them. It was contended by Georgia, that she had a right 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 127 

of civil and criminal jurisdiction over the whole of her lands with- 
in her chartered limits, and that her jurisdiction of right, extended 
to the persons and things within those limits. That by the con- 
stitution of the state, final and conclusive jurisdiction in criminal 
cases, was rested in the courts of the state ; and when those courts 
pronounced the sentence of the law, no other court had the right 
to rehear, overule or reverse that decision — that no power was 
granted by the Constitution of the United States to the federal 
courts to interfere with, or control the criminal jurisdiction of the 
states. By the laws of Georgia, it was made a penal otFence for 
any person to reside upon the lands of Georgia then in the occu- 
pancy of the Cherokees, without licence from the Governor of the 
state. The mandate of those laws was disobeyed, and the sov. 
ereignty of the state, questioned by both Indians and white men, 
who were induced by a spirit of speculation and thirst for the rich 
treasures of the gold mines to set at defiance the laws under which 
they lived. A collision soon occurred between the judicial authori- 
ty of the federal government, and the executive and ministerial 
officers of Georgia. The question was carried to the Supreme 
Court of the United States, and there a decision was given against 
the claim of sovereignty within her territorial limits, set up by 
Georgia. This decision had the inevitable tendency to increase 
the difficulties already sufficiently formidable, in the way of the 
Secretary of war, in carrying out his wise and humane policy to- 
wards the Indian tribes. The decision of the Supreme Court, was 
to him a subject of great moment. Conscientiously opposed to its 
doctrines, he examined the reasons and argument by which the 
court had shorn a sovereign state of its jurisdiction. His masterly- 
dissection of the weakness and fallacy of that doctrine was the sub- 
ject of unqualified approbation among the most learned jurists of 
the country. That he was right, the event plainly demonstrated. 
The policy of which, he was the founder, and firm and consistent 
supporter, was sustained by the public opinion of the people. Gen. 
Jackson was upheld by the general voicein his adoption of it. Gov. 
Cass had the satisfaction of beholding an e.xciting and delicate 
question settled upon a basis, formed by himself, upon enlarged 
views and extensive experience. By his tact, skill, and scrupu- 
lous regard for the rights of all interested, he succeeded in estab- 



128 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

lishing upon an immoveable foundation, the humane and benevo= 
lent policy of the government tow^ards an unfortunate and fast 
disappearing race of men, and averting a rupture between the 
federal government and a state sovereignty, which threatened 
consequences full of danger, to the Union. 

A question of the like character, arose within the State of Ala- 
bama, which brought the state and federal authorities to the 
very point of collision. The Secretary of war, fortunately inter- 
posed, and while he amply sustained the claims and rights of the 
state, he surrounded the Indians with all the protections which the 
laws of the United States and treaty stipulations guaranteed them. 

In 1836, Gov, Cass made his celebrated and minute report, up- 
on the military and naval defences of the country. In transmit- 
ting this document to Congress, Gen. Jackson, took occasion to 
say, that he concurred in the views expressed by the Secretary of 
war. There existed at that time, not only much diversity of opin- 
ion among prominent statesmen and military men of high rank, in 
regard to this question, but a great degree of misconception, which 
subsequent investigation, and more accurate knowledge of the 
wants of the country in a state of warfare, tended to remove. 

The subject, in all its extensive ramifications, was thoroughly 
examined by the Secretary of war, and while he appreciated to the 
entire extent, the benefit derived from ample and well appropriated 
fortifications, he could not overlook the consideration, that a dis- 
criminating and judicious application of public money to the 
erection and full equipment of fortifications, at certain definite lo- 
calities, would be more advantageous, and more effective for gen- 
eral protection and defence, than an undefined and unregulated 
system, which would build expensive forts, wherever there was a 
possibility of an enemy gaining a foothold. 

Gen. Cass, after an elaborate examination of the nature and condi- 
tion of our inland seas, expressed the opinion that our lake fron- 
tier required no permanent defences, and that entire reliance could 
be placed upon the resources, both in the personnel and materiel 
in the extent and natural advantages which our country possessed 
in that quarter. The establishment of a depot, for the reception 
of munitions of war, in some part of Michigan, was suggested as a 
matter of expediency and precaution. The lake country from its- 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 129 



e 



location, in case of hostilities might be in some degree, necessarily- 
cut off from expeditious and easy communication by water with 
the eastern portion of the country, in which event, such a depot 
would render the means of defence, ample and easily accessible. 

Gov. Cass was in favor of erecting a line of defences upon our 
maritime frontier, which, in case of war, could be used in co-ope- 
ration with our naval power. He considered that possessing, as 
we do, three thousand miles of sea-coast, washed by an ocean which 
separates us from the most civilized and enlightened nations of the 
earth, who, in case of war with us, would avail themselves of every 
advantage which that element conferred, to annoy and injure our , 
maritime towns and commerce — it was the first duty of the Gov- 
ernmentto augment the naval defences of the nation, to an extent 
proportionate with our resources and necessities. Our points of 
exposure being numerous and separated, it would be impracticable 
to keep, at every point, a force competent to resist the attack of an 
enemy, prepared by naval armament to make a vigorous inroad up- 
on our shores. Hence, argued Gov. Cass, the Government should 
encourage those branches of interest essential to the growth of a 
navy ; so that, on the approach of danger, a fleet might put to sea 
without delay, sufficiently powerful to meet any force sent to our 
coast. 

" Our great battle," says Gov. Cass, in this luminous report, 
" upon the ocean is yet to be fought, and we shall gain nothing by 
shutting our eyes to the nature of the struggle, or to the exertions 
we shall find it necessary to make. All our institutions are essen- 
tially pacific, and every citizen feels that his share of the common 
interest is affected by the derangement of business, by the enorm- 
ous expense, and by the uncertain result of a war. Our history 
shows, that we are more disposed to bear, when evils ought to be 
borne, than to seek redress by appeals to arms ; still, however, a 
contest must come, and it behooves us, while we have the means, 
and the opportunity, to look forward to its attendant circumstan- 
ces, and to prepare for the consequences. 

" There is as little need for inquiry now, into our moral, as into 

our physical capacity to maintain a navy, and to meet, upon equal 

terms, the ships and seamen of any other nation. Our extended 

commerce, creating and created by these resources, which are es- 
9 



130 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

sential to the building and equipment of fleets, removes all doubt 
upon the one point, and the history of our naval enterprise, from 
the moment when the colors were first hoisted upon the hastily pre- 
pared vessel, at the commencement of our revolutionary struggle, 
to the last contest, in which any of our ships have been engaged, 
is equally satisfactory upon the other. The achievements of our 
navy have stamped its character with the country and with the 
•world. The simple recital of its exploits is the highest eulogium 
which can be pronounced upon it." 

After setting forth further reasons for providing liberally for na- 
Tal operations, Gov. Cass proceeds : 

" It seems to me, therefore, that our first and best fortification is the 
mavy. Nor do I see any limit to our naval preparations, except that im- 
posed by a due regard for the public revenues from time to lime, and by 
the probable condition of other maritime nations. Much of the material 
employed in the construction and equipment of vessels is almost indes- 
tructible, or at any latti may be preserved for a long series of years ; and 
if ships can be kept thus without injury upon the stocks, by being built 
under cover, I do not see what should restrain us from proceeding to 
build as many as may be deemed necessary, and as fast as a due regard 
to their economical and substantial construction will permit, and to col- 
lect and prepare for immediate use all the muni. ions of war, and other 
articles of equipment not liable to injury or decay by the lapse of time. 
To build and equip vessels properly, requires much time, as well with re- 
ference to the execution of the work, as to the proper condition of the 
materials employed. Naval means should, therefore, be provided at a 
period of leisure, to be ready for immediate employment in a period of 
•exigency ; and a due regard to prudence dictates that these means should 
so far exceed the estimated demands of the service, as to supply in the 
shortest tiir^e any loss occasioned by the hazards of the ocean and the 
accidents of war." 

During the period that Gov. Cass was a member of Jackson's 
Cabinet, party spirit had reached a height until then unprece- 
dented in the political divisions of our country. Never was an 
administration so peculiarly situated. Questions threatening the 
disruption of the American Union, arose, among the other difficulties 
which surrounded it. Timid, weak minded men would have been 
appalled by the tremendous responsibilities which the President 
and his Cabinet were called upon to assume, and would have suc- 
cumbed to the influences brought to direct their action and sway 
them to the support of powerful but factious interests. On the 
one hand, that mighty engine of money power, the Bank of the 
United States, had successfully fought its way through Congress 
aiid reached the President with its renewed charter, demanding 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 



131 



his assent thereto. It was well known that as the representative 
of the democratic party, he could not approve the act. But it 
was hoped by the friends of that institution, that the action of con- 
gress would remove from the President's mind the objections he 
entertained, and induce him to acquiesce in its proceedings. But 
they were mistaken in their conception of the man. With un- 
shrinking firmness, sustained by his Cabinet, he returned the Bank 
charter to Congress, vetoed. The nation sanctioned the act, by 
re-electincT him the same year, for a second Presidential term. 

Another formidable difficulty at the same time beset the admin- 
istration, in the threats of secession from the Union, of one of the 
States. South Carolina, considered herself aggrieved by "the acta 
and parts of acts of the congress of the United States, purporting 
to be laws imposing of duties and imports on the importation of 
foreign commodities" and more especially by "two acts for the same 
purposes passed in May 1828 and July 1832." Preparations were 
' made to resist the operation of those laws within her limits. A 
Convention was held — inflammatory speeches and addresses 
delivered and an ordinance adopted, requiring from the citizens of 
that state, resistance to the laws of the United States. The ad- 
ministration was equal to the emergency. As coming immediately 
within his own department, Gov. Cass, at this eventful crisis, issued 
directions to the Commandant of the military force of the United 
States, then in South Carolina. His instructions were such as 
true patriotism would dictate. While on the one hand, he was 
determined to sustain the authorities of the Federal Government, 
and enforce its laws ; on the other, he was anxious that no cause of 
complaint should exist against the government in regard to the dis- 
position and conduct of the army. With this view he directed 
that the commanding officer, should in all cases, while there was a 
prospect of difficulty, look to the Department for instructions. Un- 
der the emergency then existing, it was deemed expedient, that 
the President alone, if collision should arise, should direct the army. 
The proclamation of the President was issued, in which the sub- 
ject of nullification is discussed and dissected in the clear and lu- 
cid manner which renders the state papers of Gen. Jackson so 
satisfactory and comprehensible to all. Its doctrines were precise- 
ly such as were expected from an administration with the vener- 



132 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

able chief Magistrate at its head. The unity and harmony of the 
states he was determined to preserve. The right of a state to nul- 
lify an act of Congress, was demonstrated to be the mere specula- 
tion of politicians with treason in their hearts. The eloquent 
manner in which the subject was presented ; the pure and lofty 
patriotism of the argunent, the indisputable truth of the sentiment, 
and the firm and immoveable position of the Executive, comman- 
ded the assent and admiration of even the political enemies of tlfe 
administration. The nullifiers themselves did not openly become 
converts from their position, but the storm of disunion was stilled- - 
the country was saved ; men began to reflect on the foolishness, 
and the hopelessness of rebellion against]^the federal government, 
and the administration of Gen. Jackson had the pleasure of wit- 
nessing the turbid waters of nullification settled and clarified by its 
wisdom, firmness and patriotism, the precusors of subsequent satis- 
factory legislation. 

The action of the administration on these two exciting subjects, 
which convulsed the Union from one extremity to the other, satis- 
fied the reflecting, of all parties, that the President and his cabi- 
net were the firm, immoveable defenders of the Constitution. In- 
fluences, which but few men could have resisted, they battled man- 
fully, until the bank on the one hand, and nullification on the other, 
bowed in submission to the decision of the powerful and patriotic 
minds, which then directed the affairs of the country. The Union, 
by which Gov. Cass has ever stood, with out stretched arm for its 
defence, was brought safely through a contest which shook it to its 
very centre. The judgment of the wise and fearless statesmen, 
who, in that hour of peril, shrunk not from duty, was sanctioned 
by the voice of a grateful people, who never neglect or forget their 
faithful public servants. The gratitude of a Republic may be slow 
in its manifestation, its efforts at expression may, by momentary 
feeling, unworthily aroused, be retarded or temporarily frustrated, 
but the " sober, second thought of the people, which is seldom 
wrong and always efficient," is sure to make ample and triumph- 
ant amends for the misfortune of its first defeat. 

Gov. Cass was at the head of the war department for nearly six 
years. His connection with it was terminated by his acceptance 
of the embassy to France, in which station he gained a world-wide 
celebrity, as a statesman and diplomatist. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Gov. Cass accepts the embassy to France — He departs on his mission — His vigi- 
lance in guarding the rights of his country — He thwarts the attempt of the En- 
glish IVIinistry to obtain universal dominion on the high seas— His examination 
of the question of the Right of Search— His protest laid before the French Mia- 
istry — Subsequent proceedings. 

The laborious duties of his department having for a period of 
nearly six years required and received the continued attention of 
Gov. Cass, his health became impaired by confinement and the un- 
ceasing devotion of his time to his official duty. He was in con- 
sequence compelled to withdraw from the Cabinet, greatly to the 
disappointment of the President, who expressed a desire that he 
would if possible remain until the expiration of the presidential term. 
But the state of his health forbid his continuance in that station. 
He resigned, and the President, unwilling that the nation should 
lose for any period the direct influence of Gov. Cass' experience 
and sound judgment in the management of its affairs, tendered him 
the embassy to France. This appointment, being consistent with 
the intention of the Governor to visit the old world, was accepted ; 
and, in 1836, he departed from his native shore, to represent his 
country at the court of one of the great powers of Europe, where 
he would meet the ablest diplomatists of the world, and whose 
schemes might perhaps be aimed against the interests of his own 
country. 

While minister to France, Gov. Cass watched with care and at- 
tention the movements of the European Courts. With a regard 
for the interests and honor of his own country, he permitted no 
question of diplomacy, having the least bearing upon the condition 
or prospects of the United States, to escape his strict and energetic 
scrutiny. The English government, considering herself mistress 
of the seas, assumed to draw up treaties regulating the intercourse 
and relationship of ships of different nations upon the high seas. 
Regardful of her own pretensions, she is never scrupulous of the 



134 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

manner or the place where she shall prefer them; nor has she ever 
been, nor is she now, disinclined to exert all the arts of diplomatic 
cunning to blind the eyes of those whom she seeks to bring within 
the power of her arm, or whose co-operation she desires, to assist 
in the attainment of her objects. Aspiring to the unlimited and 
acknowledged mastery of the seas, she sought to unite the five great 
powers of Europe in a treaty recognition of the right of search. 
Austria,Russia, Prussia and France, were, with herself,to be the con- 
tracting parties in the affair. The right of search had ever been op- 
posed by the American government ; and in her persevering efforts 
to establish the doctrine, England had been successfully resisted 
by the United States for more than thirty years. Under the spe- 
cious pretence of preventing the trade in slaves, she again revived 
her pretensions, and so far influenced the governments of Europe, 
as to induce them to sign the treaty she had prepared. The ratifi- 
cation of this treaty, and its execution, would have once more 
brought us into collision with England. Happily at this juncture. 
Gov. Cass, acting upon his own responsibility, appealed to the peo- 
ple of France, and protested to its government against its ratifica- 
tion by the legislative branch of the French government. The 
ratification by France was necessary to give it vigor and power. 
If that country and the United States should oppose it, as most assur- 
edly the latter would, its provisions could not be enforced, though 
the other four powers should countenance it. The appeal' and 
protest of Gov. Cass, were effectual. The French Chamber of 
Deputies refused to ratify the treaty. The stand taken by Gov. 
Cass, thwarted the design of the English Government, and broke 
up the conspiracy she was forming against the sovereignty of the 
United States, upon the free seas of the world. It was this mas- 
terly movement of that distinguished man, that at the same time 
preserved the honor of his country untarnished, and ensured the 
continued peaceful relations between her and England; while a 
not less beneficial result was attained, by preventing France, our 
first friend and ally, from becoming entrapped into the position of 
aid and supporter of pretensions and arrogance, to which the Uni- 
ted States never would submit. 

It will be well to dwell for a moment on the consequences avert- 
ed by the action of Gov. Cass. If France had ratified the treaty^ 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 135 

being a party to it, she would have been bound to keep her faith 
and enforce its requirements. England, backed and upheld by her 
great allies, would have become more than ever arrogant, and the 
vessels of the United States would have been at the mercy of her 
naval officers — subject to be stopped and searched — and liable to 
interruption and insolence, every where upon the high seas. Sub- 
mission to this indignity, there would not have been, but there 
would have been war. That would have been inevitable, and 
with it, would, in all probability, have been a depression of our 
trade and commerce, and we would be made to appear as if fight- 
ing to sustain a trade, which the enlightened powers of Europe 
were endeavoring to destroy. England, supported by her treaty, 
and the countenance of her allies, would have said : " We are en- 
deavoring to destroy the infernal traffic in human flesh. You op- 
pose us, and for this we fight you." Such would have been her 
language, though false. We would have fought her upon the high- 
way of nations, until the last spar was broken, and as long as there 
was a rag to flutter in the breeze ; but it would have cost us an in- 
calculable sum, and thousands of noble lives. France, thus placed 
by Gov. Cass, with the United States, as the committed defenders 
of the liberty of the seas, made England pause in her onward 
course after maritime absolutism, and seek in truth and reality, by 
negotiation, the object which before was only used as a cloak for 
other and selfish purposes. In a pamphlet entitled, " an examina- 
tion of the question, now in discussion, between the American and 
British Governments, concerning the right of search," Gov. Cass 
laid before the world the true issue, with the circumstances arising 
out of the peculiar relation to it, and the grounds upon which the 
demand of the British Government and the refusal of the United 
States, were maintained. 

The proceedings of our Minister upon this question of gravest 
import to the world, should receive the study and examination of 
every citizen of the United States. His own reasons and argu- 
ments for his course, present a view of the entire subject, which 
must carry conviction of its propriety, to every mind not closed 
against the light of reason and the force of truth. The following 
document, written and published by Gen. Cass, in Paris, in Janu- 



136 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

ary, 1842, will convey to the render a full exposition of the great 
and complicated question which it discusses. 

THE RIGHT OF SEARCH. 

An examination of the question, nov) in discussion, between the 
American and British Governments, concerning the Right of 
Search. By an American. 

When we doiibteJ, we took the trick.— iondon Times, Jan., 184-2. 

The right of maritime search, now in discussion between the 
British and American Governments, is a grave question, practi- 
cally interesting to all nations, to whom the freedom of the seas is 
dear; if not in its application to the subject, which has been the 
cause or the pretext of its assertion, at any rate, from the conse- 
quences to which its use or abuse may lead. Its connexion with 
the African slave trade is but incidental, and the nature of this 
traffic, which no where finds advocates, cannot affect the nature of 
this question; nor the right of a state nor of a combination of states 
to make an interpolation into the law of nations, which shall be- 
come a part of that great public code. Great Britain professes to 
push this point, in order to destroy the yet existing relics of that 
trade. We do not question her motives ; that is no part of our 
purpose. But in all general discussions, we must take human na- 
ture, as it is, with the good and the bad blended together ; tha.t 
we may, without offence, fairly follow out the application of a prin- 
ciple, and seek its consequences to the parties. And we are at 
liberty, without violating any of the courtesies of a liberal contro- 
versy, to assume, that neither can be indifferent to its bearing upon 
their interest, whatever motive of general benevolence may have 
led to the difference. Great Britain is eminently a maritime and 
commercial nation, and the history of her naval progress, during 
the last century and a half, is pregnant with lessons for all people 
interested in the freedom of the seas. She has marched steadily 
on to her object. Naval superiority she has acquired, and naval 
supremacy she seeks. We say this in a spirit of truth, not of of- 
fence. Human ambition is every where, in some form or other, 
in ceaseless action ; and upon sea and land, the history of the past 
is but the warning of the future; and nations will strive, as they 
have striven, for power. It is impossible, that the intelligent gov- 
ernment and people of Great Britain should shut their eyes to the 
effect of this claim of a right of search upon their interests, what- 
ever motives of philanthropy may have led to its first suggestion. 
To their flag it will give the virtual supremacy of the seas. We 
say virtual supremacy , because it would be found in practice, that 
ninety nine times out of a hundred, it would be her cruisers which 
would search the vessels of other nations. 

During twenty five years the British Government has urged the 
Government of the United States to consent to this measure. The 
application has been steadily repelled, and pertinaciously repeated. 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 



137 



In the mean time treaties have been formed, at various intervals, 
between Great Britain and some other nations, establishing a mu- 
tual right of search, and regulating the principles upon which it 
shall be exercised. Within a short time, five of the European pow- 
ers, two of which have few vessels upon the Ocean, and probably 
not one on the coast of Africa, have reciprocally made themselves 
parties to a similar convention. "Great Britain," says the London 
journal. The Times, "h^s managed I y great exertions to accom- 
plish this object." We do not judge, if the expression is rightly 
chosen. It is certainly very significant. And now, this principle 
of the right of search, in a time of profound peace, heretofore nev- 
er claimed as a question of right, and so solemnly decided by the 
English admiralty judge. Lord Stowell, but sought as a conven- 
tional arrangement, for the first time, since the last general war in 
Europe, and established by treaties with several powers, as a mat- 
ter to be regulated by themselves, is claimed by Great Britain to 
be a part of the law of nations, which she has both the right and 
the will to carry into eff'ect, as a sort of custos morum for all the 
maritime powers of the world. "All our government contends for," 
says the Times, " is the mere right to act as constables in board- 
ing suspicious ships, bearing the American flag." And who made 
England the great Prefet of police of the Ocean, searching and 
seizing at pleasure ? And the United States, who have so long 
been asked to yield this point by convention, are now told, that 
it is established without them, and in spite of them; and the great 
ministerial English journal. The Times, in a leading article of 
its number of January 5th, 1842, after defending this interpolation 
into the law of nations, says, that the European powers, parties to 
the last treaty, will not brook to be thwarted by any ordinary rest- 
iveness. It thus significantly concludes. " A single war with 
Great Britain she (the United States) has already tried, a war, on 
her part, with all Europe will be a novelty." 

There is certainly no want of frankness here. While the"pe- 
cial ambassador, lord Ashburton, goes out, with the professed ob- 
jects of peace and conciliation, we are told in effect by this lead- 
ing journal, that the United States have but one course to adopt, 
in order to avoid a war with the European world, and that is, sub- 
mission to the demand of England. There are powers, parties to 
the late treaty upon this subject, which we shall not believe will 
make themselves parties to a war with the United States, until we 
actually hear the sound of their guns. Does the Ti7ncs speak 
by permission, or by command, or by neither ? Is this declaration 
a prophecy, as well as threat ? 

As to the suppression of the slave trade, it is a question, which 
meets no opposition in the United States. The American govern- 
ment, if not the first, was among the first to give the example to 
the world, of a legal prohibition of this traffic. As early as March 
22d, 1794, they commenced their legislative measures for its re- 
pression, and in subsequent laws, passed 10th May, 1800, 28th 



138 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

February, 1803, 2d March, 1807, 20th April, 1818, and 3d March 
1819, they extended and enforced the provisions and penalties up- 
on this subject, and rendered liable to heavy fines, and among other 
punishments, to an imprisonment of seven years, those, who should 
be engaged in this nefarious pursuit. Their armed cruisers have 
permanent instructions to examine all the American merchant ves- 
sels they meet, and which they have reason to suspect; and their 
tribunals enforce these repressive laws with as much promptitude 
and impartiality, as those of France or England enforce similar 
laws. That violations may occasionally occur, and that the Amer- 
ican flag may be sometimes abused, we fael no disposition to deny. 
Not by the introduction of slaves into the United States, for that 
traffic is unknown, and would be impossible. We may venture to 
assert, that not a slave has been imported into the United States 
for thirty years. We would not be guilty of deception upon this 
subject, and if there is a single exception to this statement, we have 
never learned it. If American interests are connected with this 
traffic, it is in the transportation of slaves to Brazil or to the Span- 
ish colonies. But even this is much rarer than is supposed, and 
what has given occasion to the imputation of its frequent occur- 
rence is the fact, that the sharp Baltimore schooners, well known 
for their speed, are often sold to the Spanish, and Portugese mer- 
chants, and are then fitted out for the slave trade. Every practi- 
cal sailor knows them at once, and, as they are American built, 
they are supposed to be American property, when, in truth, their 
national character is changed. But any candid, intelligent man 
will at once see and acknowledge, that in a scandalous traffic like 
this in human beings, condemned by the public opinion and by the 
laws of the United States, and watched perpetually by one of their 
squadrons upon the coast of Africa, revolting to humanity, afflict- 
ing to all Christians, and reprobated by the civilized world, the 
pecuniary interests of a few degraded men, who covertly pursue it, 
by associating their capital with the regular slave dealers of other 
nations, would not weigh as the small dust of the balance with the 
American government, in any consideration, connected with this 
matter. This miserable motive has been hinted at, rather than dis- 
tinctly charged by some of the English journals. We shall not 
descend to refute the charge. No administration in the United 
States, giving the least just ground for such an imputation, could 
resist the public indignation. No, it is not African slavery the 
United States wish to encourage. It is, as we shall see, by-and- 
by, American slavery, the slavery of American sailors, they seek to 
prevent. 

But after all, a crusade of benevolence cannot be carried on 
against any nation, because its laws are sometimes violated and its 
flag abused. If its government connives at such measures, then, 
indeed, it is justly liable to the reproach of Christendom. But 
against the United States there is no pretence for such an imputa- 
tion, and the question now under discussion must be judged, inde- 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 139 

pendently of these accidental evasions, which are common to all 
nations and to all codes. 

As to a right of search in time of peace, no one pretends it has 
heretofore existed. The well known English admiralty judge, Sir 
William Scott, afterwards Lord Stowell, whose disposition to en- 
large, rather than to restrain the maritime pretensions of England, 
no one, who knows the course of his decisions, during the last 
general war, will doubt, expressly decided, that such a right was 
unknown to the law of nations. This decision, in the case of a 
French vessel, seized upon the coast of Africa, absolutely puts down 
all this pretension in the most authoritative manner. 

" No nation can exercise a right of visitation and search upon 
the common and unappropriated parts of the ocean, except upon 
the belligerent claim. No nation has the right to force their way, 
for the liberation of Africa, by trampling upon the independence 
of other states, on the pretence of an eminent good, by means that 
are unlawful, or to press forward to a great principle, by breaking 
through other great principles, which stand in their way." 

But it may be asked, as the object, for which this measure is 
now demanded, is just, why does not the American government as- 
ent to the propositions, which have been made. Is this reciprocal 
power more injurious or less honorable to the United States, than 
to other nations, who have admitted its obligation? The question 
is a fair one, and ought to be fairly met. If this cannot be done 
we shall not deny, that the motives of the United States may be 
fairly suspected, and their conduct arraigned at the bar of Chris- 
tendom. 

In the first place, we would remark, that there is a natural in- 
disposition in the human mind to yield to applications, which are 
accompanied with threats of the consequences. This sentiment is 
common to nations, as well as to individuals, and, in fact, forms 
part of the dignity of human nature. English pertinacity in de- 
manding has been met by American pertinacity in resisting: and 
now, when the United States are summoned to give their adhesion 
to anew principle of public law, against which they have uniform- 
ly protested, since its first promulgation, and are told by Lord 
Aberdeen, that the course of the English government is taken, and 
that this claim will be enforced, with the taunt that, "It is for the 
American government to determine, what may be due to a just 
regard for their national dignity and national honor," no generous 
people can fail to find in their present position that just resistance 
to dictation, without which there can neither be self-respect at 
home, nor honorable estimation abroad. 

But, besides, where would end this doctrine of interpolation ? 
Who can tell the extent, to which it may be pushed, or the purpo- 
ses, to which it may be applied ? It is by progressive steps, that 
many a pretension, hostile to the best dictates of reason and hu- 
manity, has urged its way to recognition, and taken its place in 
the code of maritime laws. Belligerent powers are always ready 



140 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. y 

to break down the feeble barriers, with which public opinion has 
endeavored to protect the rights of peaceful traffic ; and in the 
Times of the eighth instant, this process is described and de- 
fended with equal frankness and coolness. The lessons of the past 
are lost upon him, who does not read in this avowal, the contem- 
plated transformations, which the great maritime code is destined 
to undergo. An act of violence of yesterday, so pronounced by 
the Duke of Wellington and Lord Stowell, becomes the doctrine of 
to-day, and to-morrow finds itself firmly established, to be defended 
by jurists, enforced by cannon, and applied by courts of admiralty. 
" And the same kind of general proscription, since attempted by 
Napoleon against ourselves, has equally failed to gain admittance 
into the international code. In all this, history, justice and expe- 
diency have alternately triumphed, hut each step has been the result 
of a struggle, (the italics, here and elsewhere, are our own), such 
as is now pending between ourselves and the United States. Law 
has always had to ivork its own tvoy." Significant words these, 
and as true as they are significant. When force more and more 
usurps the place of justice, law works its own way, and it goes on 
bearinor down before it the doctrines of jurists, the decisions of ' 
judges and the rights of the world. 

But apart from these general considerations, applicable to all 
-changes in the maritime code of nations, there are cogent reasons, 
why the United States should refuse their assent to this measure, 
some of which are common to them and to all other States, which 
do not seek to exercise the police of the seas, or as the Times 
says, to be the constables oH\\e. ocean, and others, which are prop- 
er to them only, arising out of the peculiar relation, which a com- 
munity of language, manners and institutions, exerts between them 
and England. 

Looking to this right of search, as a measure afFecting the com- 
merce of the ocean, it is arbitrary, vexatious, and not only liable, 
but necessarily, liable to serious abuse. 

It is arbitrary, because it constitutes a naval officer, whatever 
may be his rank, the judge to decide upon serious questions, and 
upon grave interests. It permits a foreigner, under the pretence 
of settling the national character of a vessel, and the objects of her 
cruize, to indulge his antipathies or his love of gain, by seizing the 
ship and cargo, and imprisoning the crew, and by sending them 
to a distant port for examination ; and all this without any practi- 
cal redress against the wrong doer. 

It is vexatious, because all, who know anything of the course of 
boarding ships and boarding officers, under similar circumstances, 
know, that the search is pursued with little regard to justice or 
forbearance. There is power on one side, and weakness on the other 
The American vessels, during the long period of lawless domina- 
tion, which the belligerent powers exercised over the high seas for 
many years, at the close of the last century, and at the commence- 
ment of the present, were too often the victims of a similar search, 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 141 

instigated frequently by cupidity, and conducted in the most inju- 
rious and offensive manner, to leave any doubts respecting the 
course, which would be taken, should this claim be recognized. 
In this condenniation, we speak now of what is history. We stop 
not to examine the value of the pretensions, by which these aggres- 
sions were sought to be justified ; that the antagonist party had com- 
menced this work of violence ; nor the truth of the charges, thus 
respectively preferred. And the vessels of France, of the United 
States, and of the Hanse towns have already had a foretaste of 
what will occur, when a few years more shall have consecrated the 
present doctrine, as an acknowledged principle of international law. 
The crews will be paraded and examined, perhaps by a young mid- 
shipman, and this offensive operation will be rendered more offen- 
sive, by that kind of insolence, which is every where the sure 
accompaniment of unchecked responsibility. This tendency to 
abuse cannot be better described, than it has been by the London 
Sun and as its views, upon this question, are more authoritative 
than ours, we shall quote them. It says, that arbitrary habits " are 
engendered and maintained in our naval officers by the mode em- 
ployed to procure men for the fleet, and those habits make them 
treat foreign vessels in an arbitrary manner." So far as respects 
the treatment of merchant vessels, this is true to the letter. And 
once establish this right of search, and the scenes of violence, 
which checquered the oceau for twenty years, will again be re- 
newed. The hatches will be broken open, the cargo overhauled, 
property dilapidated, and many articles will be taken, as they 
have been taken, without permission and without compensation. 
This has often happened, and is an abuse, inseparable from such 
proceedings. Prohibited and deplored, no doubt, by all honor- 
able officers of a boarding ship, but, where might makes right 
easily effected, and not easily detected and punished. The an- 
nals of American voyages abound with similar incidents, which 
occurred during those stormy periods. And the complaints were 
not confined to the conduct of one of the belligerent powers, though 
one from the number of its cruizers, if for no other cause, was 
much more injurious to the American commerce than. the other. 
We speak of all this, as an historian, but we speak of it, as an 
historian, holding up the past, as a warning, and predicting, that 
the future will bring with it the same consequences, if the same 
causes are put in operation. The Journal, the Scotsma7i, is 
perfectly correct in its appreciation of the American feeling, when 
it says, " We have little doubt, that the arrogant and indefensible 
right of search, claimed by Great Britain in the last war, lies at 
the bottom of the stubborn hostility of the Americans to the rea- 
sonable propositions of our government." 

But again, this claim is liable to serious abuse, because, there 
are strong temptations, both national and individual, to pervert the 
professed objects of the search into others, which though not 
avowed, are apparent ; and because the remedy is distant, expen- 
sive and doubtful. 



142 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

The commerce of Africa is already important, and is becoming 
more so every day. The very suppression of the trade in human 
beings will tend obviously to turn industry and capital into other 
branches of employment. England is now exploring the -nterior of 
that great Contuient, and with her accustomed foresight is pushing 
her intercourse with the native tribes, and preparing new means of 
communication. Who can doubt, but that English cruizers, sta- 
rioned upon that distant coast, with an unlimited right of search, 
and discretionary authority to take possession of all vessels fre- 
quenting those seas, will seriously interrupt the trade of other na- 
tions, by sending in their vessels for trial under very slight pre- 
tences, and in fact under no real pretence whatever. For we 
must noi loose sio-ht of one of the most important elements in all 
this controversy ; which is, that the mere appearance of a merchant 
ship in those regions is ipso facto suspicious. This is the very 
ground work of the English pretension ; the right, as her govern- 
ment now contends, to ascertain by actual examination the true 
character of every vessel, found in " certain latUudcn," which are 
assumed to be suspicious ; as the quarantine regulations presup- 
pose many regions to be always pestiferous. Under these circum- 
stances, a boarding officer, stimulated by that reward, which a 
successful capture always brings with it, and by a determination, 
which may not be uncharitably charged to him, of favoring the 
trade of his own country, and of discouraging that of another, will 
readily believe, or affect to believe, not that there is just ground 
to suspect the destination of a vessel ; that, her very appearance 
upon his cruising ground furnishes, agreeably to these new insti- 
tutes ; but that the redeeming circumstances about her are not 
sufficient to establish, that her cruise is a lawful one, or that she is 
entitled to the national character, she claims; and that she must 
be sent to a Court of Admiralty, to one of those great 
Maelstroms, which swallowed up so many American ships, during 
that period, when there was no right upon the ocean, but the 
right of force. The vexation and interruption of voyages, the re- 
sult of this system, are easily understood. A trade carried on un- 
der such unfavorable circumstances, cannot contend with the trade 
of a favored nation, who herself, exercises the police of the seas, 
and who may be harsh or lenient, as her prejudices or interest may 
dictate. It must be abandoned, as some of the Paris journals of 
the eighth instant announce, that the French vessel the Sophie 
has just changed her destination, rather than subject herself to the 
vexations, which another French ship the Marabout had expe- 
rienced from the English cruisers upon the coast of Brazil. As 
to the indignity, to which this proceetling will expose the officers 
and crews of merchant ships, that must be left to every nation to 
appreciate for itself It is not probable, that the pretension will 
be rendered less offensive by the mode of its execution. 

But beyond all these objections, applicable in common to every 
maritime nation, there is another, far more powerful in its opera- 
tion, and which, from the peculiar relation of language, manners 



LIFE OE GENERAL CASS. 143 

and institutions, that exist between the United States and Great 
Britain, renders this measure, not only obnoxious, but to the last 
degree unacceptable to the American government and people. 
We would not impute unworthy motives to a great and intelligent 
people, and Great Britain has done enough to command for herself 
her full share of the admiration of the world. But we must take 
human nature as we find it, and the code of political ethics is a 
loose system, where there is much, both of good and evil. Amidst 
many gradual meliorations in the constitution of England, she has 
adhered with wonderful tenacity to certain pretensions, arising out 
of feudal notions, and among others, to one by which she claims 
that every person born under her government is forever a British 
subject, and that if he is by condition a seaman, he is liable to be 
taken, wherever he can be found, and forcibly compelled to serve 
an unlimited period on board her vessels of war. This is not a 
conscription which operates equally upon all, subjecting all to the 
same chance, and requiring their services upon established condi- 
tions, and for fixed periods. However, so far as this is a municipal 
regulation, other nations have no concern with its justice or policy, 
except as a subject of general speculation. But unfortunately for 
the duration of harmony between the United States and Great Brit- 
ain, this pretension is a subject of fearful importance. The Brit- 
ish government claims the right of impressing seamen on board 
the merchant vessels, of the United States, and once, as is well 
known, they exercised this right on board the Chesapeake frigate, 
after an action in profound peace, when the American ship was 
compelled to yield to superior force. The conduct of the com- 
mander was however disavowed, but his zeal was rewarded by 
promotion. 

It is now matter of history, that for many years, the British 
armed ships boarded the American vessels, wherever they found 
them upon the ocean, and seized their crews, incorporating them 
with their own, and compelling them to fight the battles of a foreign 
power; first against France, and ultimately, after the commence- 
ment of the w^ar, to which these acrgressions gave rise, to fight 
against their own country. In theory, indeed, the British 
government did not arrogate to itself the right to impress Ameri- 
can citizens, unless those citizens had been born British subjects. 
In that case, the new character with which they were invested, 
gave them no protection against this pretension. But in its prac- 
tical operation, this power was exercised with a general disregard 
of the character of the American crews, the boarding officer being 
the final judge, and the cruiser being almost always in want of 
able seamen. A midshipman entered an American vessel with 
absolute power, mustered the crew, declared that such and such 
persons were British subjects, seized them, and transported them 
to his own ship, to be released by death, or by a general peace. 

Vain were the protestations of these unhappy victims of lawless 
aggression ; vain the opposition of the captain ; vain the proofs 



144 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

furnished by the papers. His Britanic majesty's ships wanted 
seamen, and seamen they took. During many years, a warm di- 
plomatic correspondence was carried on between the two govern- 
ments, but the argument being exhausted, and the abuse continu- 
ed, an appeal was finally made to arms. 

The British government said, our seamen seek protection in the 
United States, and enter into their marine, and thus escape from 
the duties, they owe to their own country. We have a right to 
their services, and we have also a right to take them, wherever 
we can find them in merchant ships on the high seas, having first 
entered these ships for another purpose. 

To this, the American government answered, we deny the doc- 
trine of perpetual allegiance. Our country is open, and if foreign- 
ers come here, after a certain number of years, and compliance 
with certain established formalities, they may be invested with the 
character of American citizens, and then it is our duty to protect 
them. You adopt the same principle, and follow the same prac- 
tice ; you naturalize by special Acts of Parliament ; you naturalize 
all persons, who reside a certain number of years in your colonies ; 
and you naturalize all seamen, ivho have served a short term in 
your navy. At this moment, the Governors of some of your colo- 
nies are compelling emigrants from the United States to bear arms 
against us. 

We have just turned to M'Culloch's Dictionary of commerce to 
ascertain how far the American Government were borne out in their 
assertion, respecting the naturalization of foreign seamen by the 
British law, and there we find, page 1011, that among other means 
of naturalization, a foreigner who has " served on board his Ma- 
jesty's ships of war, in time of war, for the space of three years, be- 
comes a British seaman. "But his Majesty may, by proclama; 
tion during war, declare that foreigners, who have served tivo years 
in the royal navy during such war, shall be deemed as British 
seamen." 

The act of Congress, respecting the employment of seamen in 
the American service provides, that no person shall be employed 
in the public or private vessels of the United States, who is not a 
native born or naturalized citizen. Another act on the subject 
of naturalization provides, that " no person can become a citizen 
of the United States, who shall not, for the continual term of five 
years next preceding his admission, have resided within the Uni- 
ted States, without being at any time during the said five years, 
out of the territory of the United States." In the one country a 
foreigner can enter into the marine service, without the probation 
of a moment; and after serving three years, he becomes ipso /ac^o 
a British seaman. Into the marine service of the other, no one 
but a native can enter, till he shall have actually lived five years 
in the country, without departing from it. 

In the whole history of human inconsistencies, few chapters can 
be found more striking than this. But the United States were 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 145 

anxious to apoid a war with Great Britain. They were willing to 
concede mtich to avert this extremity. They exhausted the cata- 
locrue of arguments and of oifers. Thus speaks the President of 
the United States in his message of June 13th 1812, recommend- 
ino- war, " this practice," that of impressment, " is so far from affect- 
ino- British subjects alone, that under pretence of searching for 
these, thousands of American citizens, under the safeguard of pub- 
lic law, and of their natural flag, have been torn from their coun- 
try, and from everything dear to them, have been dragged on board 
the ships of war of a foreign nation, and exposed, under the seve- 
rities of their discipline, to be exiled to the most distant and dead- 
ly regions, to risk their lives in the battles of their oppressors, and 
to be the melancholy instruments of taking away the lives of their 
own brethren." 

Against this crying enormity, which Great Britain would be so 
prompt to avenge, if committed against herself, the United States 
have in vain exhausted remonstrances and expostulations ; and 
that no doubt might be wanting of their conciliatory disposition, 
and no pretext left for a continuance of the practice, the British 
government was formally assured of the readiness of the United 
States to enter into an arrangement, such as could not be rejected, 
if the recovery of British subjects were the real and sole object. 
The communication passed without effect." 

We return to the point maintained by the American govern- 
ment, in the correspondence to which Ve have referred. Inde- 
pendently, said they, of these obvious considerations (the same we 
have already presented) there is another, which covers the whole 
question. Your right, by your own confession, is not an absolute 
one. It yields to our right of sovereignty. You do not claim to 
come upon our soil, and there to seize your sailors. Where do 
you find the right to seize them in our ships, covered by our flag, 
which is as exclusive of your jurisdiction, except in certain pres- 
cribed cases in time, as the territory of the United States? If 
you suffer your citizens to escape, and to come under our sove- 
reiornty, your claim to their services must yield to our superior 
claim to national immunity. Like many other rights or preten- 
sions in society, if this cannot be exercised, without violating the 
privileges of another party, it must be abandoned. 

The British jurists of that day, who administered, and often 
made the maritime law, were endowed with sufficient subtlety to 
discover new principles to suit new circumstances, and her states- 
men had sufficient firmness to adopt and maintain them. But we 
doubt, if in the whole progress of that warfare, between orders in 
council and imperial decrees, which so long vexed neutral com- 
merce, and outraged the common sense of mankind, a bolder inva- 
sion was made into the regions of maritime metaphysics, than ia 
the promulgation of that doctrine, which was to reconcile the ex- 
ercise of this right of impressment, with those principles of public 
law, that had been too long and too clearly established to be direct- 

10 



146 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

ly controverted. Who was the discoverer of this, then terra in- 
cognita we know not ; but its revelation was announced by great 
authority and from a high place. It is to be found in a declara- 
tion of the Prince Regent of Great Britain, dated July 9th 1813, 
made in answer to the manifesto of the American government, re- 
capitulating the causes, which had driven the United States to war. 
And it is there gravely maintained that " His Royal Highness can 
never admit, that in the exercise of the undoubted and hitherto un- 
disputed right of searching neutral merchant vessels in time of 
war (alluding to the ordinary right of search, recognized by the 
law of nations) the impressment of British seamen, when found 
therein, can be deemed any violation of a neutral flag. Neither 
can he (the Prince Regent) admit, that the taking such seamen 
from on board such vessels can be considered by any neutral state, 
as a hostile measure, or a justifiable cause of war." 

And thus speaks the executive of England. The right to enter 
an American ship for the purpose of impressment is clearly dis- 
claimed ; but having entered for a lawful purpose, then the board- 
ing officer has the right to take any British subjects he may find ; 
that is to say, to seize every American sailor, and place him upon 
the deck of a British cruiser. We shall not go back to the histo- 
ry of the monstrous abuses, to which this pretension gave birth, 
and which drove the United States to war. They would have be- 
come a by-word among nations, had they tamely submitted to see 
their seamen dragged into this worst of slavery. But it is well, 
with regard to the future, to investigate the claims of the past. A 
seaman, on board an American ship, is protected by his national 
flag. No British officer can enter, for the purpose of tearing him 
from this natural asylum. But having entered for one object, he 
may execute another. Certain belligerent rights are given to him, 
and he may board all vessels upon the great highway of nations, 
in order to enforce them. And having done, or affected to do this, 
he may then turn round, and pervert his right of entry to a totally 
different object. He may violate the sovereignty of the neutral 
power, by giving effect, not to the code of international law, but 
to the mere municipal regulations of his own country; and under, 
the most arbitrary and offensive circumstances. No, all this is 
but the sophistry of power, determined to attain its object, and 
seeking to justify itself. There is no such right of conversion. 
No just claim to demand one thing, and to do another. The whole 
pretension shocks the common sense of the world. 

Argument would be lost in its refutation. The analogy of the 
English law would lead the British government to a far different 
conclusion. In England, if a person has a right of entry for one 
purpose, and perverts it to another, he renders himself a trespasser 
ah initio. He finds convertible justification, by which his real 
object may be attained, while he covers himself with a professed 
one. 

According to this right of conversion, when ihe British forces 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 147 

entered the state of New York to burn the Caroline, having got 
within the American territory, for what they contended to be a 
lawful purpose, they might have then violated the national sove- 
reignty, and seized all the persons they found, who had been born 
British subjects, and transported them into Canada. And why 
not have seized their American debtors, if they had any, or done 
any other act, which they might lawfully do at home, as they claim 
to enforce their municipal laws upon the vessels of the United 
States. This claim can only be supported upon the ground, that, 
these laws ride over those of the United States, wherever British 
power plants itself; even for the shortest period and for whatever 
purpose. 

But another high authority, the Times, has recently laid down 
the same doctrine, more distinctly indeed, and quite ex cathedra, 
showing how rapidly these maritime pretensions gather strength 
from time and use. We cannot, at this moment, refer to the num- 
ber which contains this dictum, but it must have been that of the 
sixth or seventh of January, and will be found in Galignani's Mes- 
senger of the tenth of January, extracted from the London Journal. 
After laying down the right of search for enemy's property and 
articles contraband of war, the Times continues, " It is also, we be- 
lieve, confessed, that if in the course of search, we find the goods 
and persons of our enemies, such goods and persons may be made 
lawful prizes and prisoners ; the law, however, being punctillious 
enough to require in the former instance, that the captors shall 
pay freight to the neutral carriers, of whose cargo they possess 
themselves. Now, during our wars with France, we exercised this 
uncontested and incontestible right against America and all the 
rest of the world, with this very nnnatural corollary, (!) that as we 
might take the persons of the king's enemies (a right given by the 
law of nations) we might take the persons of the king's subjects, 
who had deserted their duty (meaning thereby, all speaking the 
English language) and were serving in foreign ships, (a right, to- 
tally unknown to, and unrecognised by the law of nations.) We 
shall continue our quotations from the Times, because nothmg, we 
could say, would more forcibly describe the intolerable abuses of 
this pretension, and because, from the position and character of 
that journal, we have the best assurance, that those abuses are not 
exao-crerated. 

" In the practical enforcement, however, of this right or wrong, 
for on that point it is not now necessary to pronounce, the search- 
inor party being, from the nature of th^ case, the strongest, and 
moreover, ordinarily speaking, j)crsons of summary habits, were 
apt to be somewhat arbitrary in their judgments of who was Am- 
erican and who was English; ' when they doubted they took the 
trick,' at least, so thought and said the Americans, and any one 
may remember, that, once taken and lodged in an English man of 
war, by right or by wrong, it was not a very easy matter to get out 
of it ; and accordingly the American had to stay, with just as good 



148 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

a chance of being cat off by a French cannon ball, before he could 
get his right again, as any of his English fellow sailors." We par- 
don the frivolty of manner, with which this grave subject is treated, 
in consideration of the frankness of the journal, in the open avowal 
of a principle which cannot fail to excite general reprobation, now 
the unnatural excitement of war has passed away. 

A nation, which should tamely submit to such pretensions, would 
merit, as it would surely receive, the contumely of the world. 

The Times adds, " that this dispute (of impressment) now sleeps, 
though it will have to be revived, at latest, on the next occasion, 
when we find ourselves invested by a war with the right, of which 
it is the consequence ; and indeed, it might be raised on the contem- 
plated treaty, giving a mutual right of search for the prevention 
of the slave trade, unless provided for, as it easily might and prob- 
ably would be by special articles." 

But here is the true key to much of the reluctance of the Am- 
erican government to become a party to an arrangement, which 
shall add to the category of the right of search ; whether it is 
likewise the key to the pertinacity, with which the British govern- 
ment presses this matter, we do not presume to judge. Until now, 
the right of search has been a belligerent right, belonging only to 
a state of war * * * Here is the first formal claim to exer- 
cise it in time of peace. Impressment, is a municipal right, de- 
pending, say the English jurists, upon the mutual relation of alle- 
giance and protection, and the duties which these reciprocally cre- 
ate. Ordinarily, it is exercised in time of war, only, but the gov- 
ernment might authorise its exercise at all times, as the conscrip- 
tion is operative, as well in peace as war ; and surely, many cases 
may occur, where its exercise might be necessary to man a fleet, 
before hostilities were actually declared, but while they were con- 
sidered impending. Under such circumstances, this new right of 
search, bringing a British boarding officer legally on board an Am- 
erican ship, for a defined object, would enable him very conven- 
iently, after satisfying himself she neither sought nor contained 
slaves, to seize her crew and reduce them to a worse than African 
bondage; because, to all their other miseries might be added, the 
obligation to fight against the flag of their own country. 

The Scotsman is not less frank than the Tirnes ; " the 
object of the one." says the former journal, alluding to the right of 
search as heretofore practiced, " was to discover British sailors in 
American vessels, and practically gave our naval officers a power 
to impress seamen from the ships of another state." 

So, having already maintained, under various vicissitudes, the 
right to seize American sailors, in time of war, as a consequence 
of her belligerent right of search, if the present pretension is 
established, Great Britain can then seize them in time of peace, as 
a consequence of her pacific right of search, called visitation, and 
thus the marine of the United States will be an inexhaustible foun- 
tain, whence in peace and war, she can seek her force. 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 149 

But it may be said, and indeed the suggestion as we have seen, 
is in the Tiincs, that it is in the power of the American govern- 
ment to frame a convention, which shall exclude this process of 
impressment, and therefore fear of its occurrence ought not to 
prevent the adoption of this check to an odious traffic. To this 
suggestion the answer is easy. The United States can enter into 
no stipulation, which can be tortured into a recognition of this 
doctrine of impressment. They cannot provide for its restriction 
nor regulation. They can only accept a general declaration from 
the British government, that their flag shall protect their seamen, 
at all times and under all circumstances ; and there is little rea- 
son to hope, that the counsels of justice will so far prevail over 
those of interest, as to lead to such a measure. 

Were it however adopted by the British government, as the reg- 
ulation of its future conduct, it would be hailed in the United 
States as the harbinger of a brighter day ; as the cause and the 
precursor of an indefinite peace, between two nations, having so 
many reasons for union and so few for separation. 

In such an event, there would be little hazard in predicting, 
that a satisfactory arrangement might soon be made, by which the 
fullest co-operation of the United States would be obtained to- 
wards the suppression of the slave trade. The great difficulty 
being removed, a mutual spirit of conciliation would soon do the 
rest. But till then, the United States cannot, in any arrange- 
ment giving reciprocally the right of search, with a professed view 
to the extinction of the slave trade, admit a stipulation, that the 
doctrine of constructive entrance should not apply and that their 
seamen should be safe from seizure. Such a stipulation would 
soon be construed into an admission of this claim, under other 
circumstances, and to this, the American government and people 
will never submit. With them, it is a question of life and death. 
They went to war to oppose it, thirty years ago, when compara- 
tively young and weak. And now, after having advanced in all 
the elements of power with a rapidity unknown in human history, 
they will not be wanting to their duties and honor in the day of 
trial. An American, at home or in Europe, may safely predict, 
that the first man impressed from a ship of his country, and de- 
tained, with an avowal of the right by order of the British govern- 
ment, will be the signal of war. A war too, which will be long, 
bitter and accompanied, it may be, with many vicissitudes. For 
no citizen of the United States can shut his eyes to the power of 
Great Britain, nor to the gallantry of her fleets and armies. But 
twice the Republic has come out honorably from a similar contest, 
and with a just cause she would again hope for success. At any 
rate, she would try. 

In the preceding discussion, we have spoken generally of the 
ricrht of search, without beinw led aside by any distinction, found- 
ed upon the purposes, real or avowed, of those who exercise it. 
We have done so, because so far as regards the most obnoxious 



150 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

consequences to the United States, the liability of their seamen to 
impressment, it is obvious, and so indeed says the Times, that the 
exercise of tiiis pretension, though not forming a just cause of 
entry, yet being its necessary result, it is perfectly immaterial, in 
its practical operation, whether the Naval Judge, " clothed with a 
little brief authority " but deciding summarily upon human liber- 
ty, boards the peaceful trader to ascertain her national character, 
or to enquire into the objects of her voyage. But besides this 
fundamental objection, it is evident, that no vessel can be liable 
to examination without some hinderance. That in all such cases, 
there may be gross abuses, and that in many, these abuses will 
occur. The boarding officer will judge if her papers are regular 
or if they are simulated ; and if the accidents of the voyage and 
nature and appearance of the cargo and equipment confirm these 
papers or render them suspicious. Here is latitude enough for 
arbitrary vexation, and for interruptions, which may drive an oth- 
erwise profitable commerce into less troubled channels. A nd these 
considerations are abundantly powerful to justify the United 
States in refusing their consent, boch to the conventional arrange- 
ment proposed for the right of search, to ascertain the objects of 
the voyage, and to the new doctrine, now first promulgated, of a 
right of search to ascertain, if the proofs of the vessel's nationali- 
ty are sufficient to justify her title to the flag she bears. 

We cannot better describe the little diffi^rence, in its practical 
operation, which would be found between the right of search to 
ascertain the true character of a vessel, and the right of search to 
ascertain the object of her voyage, than we find it done to our 
hands in the London Sun. One may be called a search and the 
other a visit, but both will be found equally vexatious visitations. 
The passage of the Sun is striking, and we shall quote it : 

•'The Americans may very properly object to our right of search, 
and may still have a great inclination to suppress the slave trade ; 
but of the two evils, we have no doubt, but the Americans would 
prefer the eternal existence of the slave trade, to allowing their 
ships to be overhauled by our men of war. If they sanction the 
examination, for the mere purpose of ascertaining, if a vessel 
bearing the American flag is bona Jidc an American vessel, they 
sanction a rigid examination of the vessel herself. The papers 
may be simulated. How is that to be proved? By examining the 
crew; by ascertaming, that the cargo of the vessel corresponds 
to the manifest ; by tracing her route in the log book; in short 
by subjecting her to a complete search. If that be not done, pa- 
pers will be at once produced, to correspond to the flag, and mere- 
ly to prove that they do correspond, will be of no use whatever. 
The Americans are well aware of the insults and injuries they 
would subject themselves to, by admitting this claim to visit their 
ships, and the Morning Chi'onicle does them egregious injustice, 
when it represents their resistance to that claim b^?, grounded inun- 
righteousness y 



LIFE OP GENERAL CASS. 151 

The correspondence, with the Britisli Secretaries of State for 
Foreign Affairs, just published by the American government, comes 
marvellously in support of the remarks of the >S'mh, though received 
since those remarks were written. It gives to them almost the 
character of prophecy. The search of five American vessels is 
complained of by the American minister, the Douglass, the lago, 
the Hero, the Mary and the Susan. And in four of these cases, 
serious complaints are also made, that the crews were treated with 
indignity, and the cargoes overhauled and injured, and various ar- 
ticles taken away. As Lord Palmerston in his answer to Mr. Ste- 
venson gives a summary of the complaints of that gentleman, in 
the case of one of these vessels, we shall quote the passage, as an 
illustration of the practical effects of this new claim, not having, 
unfortunately, Mr. Stevenson's letter on this subject, within reach. 
And we embrace with pleasure this opportunity of tendering our 
thanks to that able American Representative for the spirit, ability 
and dignity with which he maintained the rights of his country, 
during the arduous correspondence he carried on with Lord Pal- 
merston and Lord Aberdeen. But to the summary. " In these 
two communications from Mr. Stevenson," says Lord Palmerston, 
" it is stated, that on the 2 1st of October 1839, Lieut. Seagram 
boarded the Douglass, while she was pursuing her voyage, on the 
coast of Africa, examined the ship's papers, and the passengers' 
passports, broke open the hatches, hauled down the American flag, 
and seized the vessel as a slaver ; that he kept possesssion of her 
during eight days ; namely, from the 21 st of October, to the 29th of 
the same month ; that the officers and men of the Douglass be- 
came ill from exposure to the sun, and that in consequence, three 
of them died, and the Captain is yet in ill health." It appears by 
another letter from Lord Palmerston, that the boarding crew was 
charged with consuming the stores and provisions of the Douglass. 
And in a third letter from Lord Palmerston, which relates to 
the Mary, the character of the occurrences on board, may be 
judged by this remark, " proceedings which, in Mr. Stevenson's 
opinion, seem to want nothing to give them the character of a 
most flagrant and daring outrage, and very little, if anything, to 
sink them into an act of open and direct piracy." 

Lord Palmerston then proceeds to justify or deny all these char- 
ges, and there they sleep the sleep of death. 

As to the ill treatment of the crews, and the free use of the pro- 
visions and stores of the vessels, and frequently the subtraction of 
more valuable articles (in one of these cases' money, a chronom- 
eter and a watch are said to have disappeared) all this is but an 
old story in the history of vessels, boarding and boarded as we 
have already had occasion to observe. How indeed can it be oth- 
erwise in the constitution of human nature, and in the position of 
the parties? There is no check for the present, no responsibility 
for the future. The most rigorous discipline and the best dispo- 
sition could not prevent abuse, where a party of sailors enter the 



152 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

vessel of another nation, in fact as masters; parade the crew, ex- 
amine the papers, break up the hatches, overhaul the cargo, and 
feel themselve at free quarters, almost in an enemy's country. 
And when the disposition of the officers is bad, and the discipline 
lax, all these evils are fearfully augmented. In the catalogue of 
naval wrongs, endured by the United States, during the long pe- 
riod of belligerent opression, to which we have referred, the inju- 
ries and abuses inflicted by boarding vessels figure in the first rank. 
What will they be hereafter, when this doctrine of universal search, 
under the guise of an inquiry into the nationality of vessels, be- 
comes consecrated by time and usage, and is exercised, as well in 
peace as in war? 

But after all, what is this distinction, which Lord Palmerston 
and Lord Aberdeen have discovered, and which is to give to Brit- 
ish officers the right, in a time of profound peace, to enter and 
search American ships? We are distinctly told by both these 
statesmen, in their correspondence with the American minister, 
that they do not assert this claim of search, with a view to ascer- 
tain the objects of a voyage, and to seize the vessel, if found en- 
gaged in the slave trade. Both admit in terms, that her American 
character being once established, her carcjo. whether men or mer- 
chandize, is beyond the reach of the armed cruiser ; and that she 
must be permitted to prosecute her voyage, however nefarious its 
object may be. 

But both equally contend, that the flag at the mast head, or the 
piece of hunting, as Lord Palmerston rather contemptuously styles 
this emblem of sovereignty, furnishes no evidence of national 
character, and shall furnish no protection against the entrance of 
British force. That they have a right to board all vessels upon 
the ocean, examine their papers, and satisfy themselves respecting 
their nationality. Lord Aberdeen, indeed, consoles the govern- 
ment of the United States by the assurance, that their vessels are 
not entered as their vessels. "Nor is it as American, that such 
vessels are ever visited." Poor consolation this. If Tom is 
knocked down in the streets, it is little comfort to him- to he told, 1 
did not knock you doicn as Tom, I knocked i/oii down as Jack. 
The answer to all such pretensions is very simple, and cannot 
have escaped the sagacity of the British statesmen who have re- 
sorted to this strange process of justification. You commit the 
act at your own hazard. If you enter a ship or knock down a 
man, believing the ship or man is not what appearances indicate, 
and your suspicions being correct, if the law, international in one 
case, national in the other, gives you the right to use this violence, 
then you may avow the act, and justify it. But if you err in these 
premises, you are responsible for the consequences. 

The municipal law of every country is filled with illustrations 
of this principle. It is common sense, applied to the affairs of 
men in their social relations, as members of an organized commu- 
nity. Applied to the affairs of nations, in their commercial inter- 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 153 

■course with one another, upon the ocean, it is the same common 
sense, then called public law. If a father or master meet his son 
or servant, he has a right to examine him, to ascertain if he is vio- 
lating his orders. This we may call the visitation of persons. 
The right cannot be denied. Now, the son or servant may dis- 
guise himself, and assume the appearance and dress of the son or 
servant of a neighbor, it may be his livery. But does this possi- 
bility of abuse give to the superior the right to stop in the streets 
all persons he may choose to suspect, with or without cause, to be 
his son or servant ? and not even violating the law of the country, 
but his own domestic law ! Certainly not. If he examine forci- 
bly, he does so at his peril. Borne out by the result, he is but in 
the exercise of his right. Deceived, he is a trespasser and respon- 
sible for his conduct. 

We consider it unnecessary to pursue these illustrations farther. 
It would be but a work of supererogation. 

What then is the process, by whicii this new principle is attemp- 
ted to be justified and maintained? Lord Palmerston thus lays 
down the doctrine, which is henceforth to become a part of the 
great maritime law. The United States flag or hunting, as his 
lordship calls it, shall ezemj)t no vessel (ivhethrr American or not) 
from search, except "when that vessel is provided with papers, en- 
titling her to wear that flag, and proving her to be United States 
property, and navigated according to law." And with a view to 
ascertain if she is entitled to the flag she bears, and if she is sail- 
ing according to law, a right of entry is claimed for every British 
cruiser into every American vessel, wherever they may meet. And 
this right of entry is called not a search, but a visit. 

Lord Palmerston, it will be remarked, lays down as a part of the 
principle, that the vessel must be sailing according to law, that 
is, for a purpose not prohibited by law, and Lord Aberdeen, who 
shows more regard for bunting than Lord Palmerston, concedes, 
that, "doubtless the flag is ^jr/ma/acz'a evidence of the nationality 
of the vessel." A strange designation this, by the by, for a na- 
tional pavillion, and we had almost said a profane one, to be appli- 
ed by an English statesman, the minister of a country whose me- 
teor flag is associated with so many glorious recollections, and 
apostrophised in so much glorious poetry And after all, this em- 
blem of sovereignty and accompaniment of victory is but a piece 
of bunting ! Alas ! for the prestige of great names, when redu- 
ced to this matter of fact standard ! 

It will not be denied, that this is the first solemn occasion, upon 
which this pretension has been put forth to the world. No ele- 
mentary writer has advanced it ; no jurist has asserted it; no judge 
has ruled it. The universal exemption of all vessels in time of 
peace, from "search or visitation," the very words, as we have seen 
of Lord Stowell, has heretofore been an uncontested and incontes- 
table principle of the law of nations ; and he added the authority 
of his decision to the opinions of his predecessors, the commenta- 



154 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

tors upon the great code of maritime law. When therefore the 
two British statesmen, who have assumed, or upon whom has fallen, 
the task of interpolating this new principle into that code, or as the 
Times would express it, who are loorking the way for the new law, 
undertake to justify this pretension, by argument, preparatory to 
its being maintained by force, we may fairly call upon them to es- 
tablish their position by undeniable proofs, or by the clearest illus- 
trations. The burthen of discussion is cast upon them ; while* 
the nations of the earth, at the same time judges and parties, are 
•watching the progress of the controversy, anxious, it may be, to 
see, if this new stej), as the Times may well term it, is to be 
attended with a new struggle, and if both are to be gained, as so 
many have been gained before them. 

In carefully analyzing the correspondence, the arguments in 
support of this claim may be briefly summed up in these. With- 
out it, flags may be sometimes abused. Without it, English crui- 
sers may sometimes be prevented from boarding their own vessels, 
and thus the municipal laws of England may be violated. With- 
out it, the treaty stipulations for the suppression of the slave trade 
cannot be so well executed, as with it. And the traditions of the 
British navy, and Lord Aberdeen believes, of other navies, are in 
favor of its assertion. This is a brief summary of the defence of 
this measure. 

As to what may be termed the quarter deck law, we shall dismiss 
it with a very cursory examination. Mr. Stevenson calls in ques- 
tion the exactitude of the fact, at any rate to the extent, to which 
it must reach, in order to support such a claim as this. That ves- 
sels may have been overhauled and entered in time of peace, under 
peculiar circumstances, we do not doubt. But it is evident, that 
this practice has never prevailed in any considerable degree, most 
certainly not sufficiently so, to render it authoritative, as otherwise 
it would have given rise to examination and consideration among 
the elementary writers, and to discussion among the governments, 
which, from time to time, must have been affected by it. No trace 
of this appears, and the conclusion is inevitable, that its use has 
never been established, nor its abuse sufficiently prevalent nor se- 
rious, to render it the subject of diplomatic intervention. If Great 
Britain had, as she has not, in the exercise of her naval strength, 
pushed this usage beyond the point, we have indicated, certainly it 
would be with a bad grace, she could claim, that her own violence 
should be written down in the law of nations, and constitute the 
rule for their future government. We go farther ; vessels will no 
doubt be hereafter spoken and entered, and no one will complain, 
because no indignity will be intended, nor will any injury be done. 
Strictly speaking, a trespass may be committed, but the matter 
will pass off", without exciting the least sensation, either among the 
parties or their governments. How different this is, from a claim 
to enter and search all ships, at all times, and in all places, we 
leave to the common sense of mankind to judge. We say in all 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 155 

places, because, though one-half only of the Atlantic ocean is ta- 
booed (as the South sea islanders express it) at the present moment, 
yet the same power, which has laid this interdict upon a part of 
one of the mightiest works of God, may extend it, as soon as its 
interests dictate, from pole to pole, and from east to west. If that 
is not already done, it is not, that the principle is not sufficiently 
elastic to cover such a space, but only that the time of harvest has 
not yet come. We are aware of our offence against the canons of 
criticism in the metaphor, but we may be pardoned the trespass, 
in consequence of the force of the illustration. With respect to 
the abuse, to which this claim of immunity, made by the United 
States for their vessels, may be liable, it is not difficult to show 
how greatly it has been exaggerated. This seems to be the favor- 
ite argument of Lord Palmerston, and is repeated, under a some- 
what different view, by Lord Aberdeen. Both these statesmen ap- 
pear to think, that the United States claim a perfect immunity for 
all vessels, bearing their flag, and as an illustration of the absurdity 
of such a pretension. Lord Aberdeen asks Mr. Stevenson, if he 
supposes the government of Great Britain would permit " British 
vessels and British capital to carry on, before the eyes of British 
officers, this detestable traffic, etc., by hoisting the American flag." 

This conclusion is no corrollary from the premises laid down by 
the United States. They advance no such pretension. It is the 
immunity of their own bona fide vessels, they seek to secure. 
They do not deny to the cruisers of all the powers of the earth, 
the right to enter and search each the vessels of their own coun- 
try, and of every other country, which may concede the privilege ; 
though the flag of the United States may fly at all their mast heads. 
But they do deny the right of any such cruiser to search their ves- 
sels, and here lies the root of the whole matter. Certainly, if a 
British or French frigate encounters a vessel at sea, which is most 
assuredly a British or a French vessel, endeavoring to conceal her 
nationality, under the American flag, such frigate is justified in 
boarding her, and in disposing of her, as the laws of her country 
may provide. But this is done at the risk of the boarding ship. 
If the result proves, that the suspicion was well founded, then the 
commanding officer will be scathless. He will have done his duty 
to his own government, and no injury to another. But if he has 
suffered himself to be deceived, then he has violated the rights of 
a foreign power, and his sovereign must be responsible for the con- 
sequences. He may still have done his duty to his own govern- 
ment. That will depend upon the strength of the evidence, upon 
which he acted. But he has committed an injury against another, 
and for that injury, atonement may be demanded. But here we 
come to the practical operation of these general principles, and it 
is that branch of the subject alone, which is worthy serious consi- 
deration. 

The two British statesmen attempt to support their position by 
pushing principles to their extremes. This may do in the schools, 



156 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

but its place is not in active life, and least of all in the affairs of 
nations. A British officer meets a vessel bearing an American 
flag, but which he has the strongest reasons to suspect to be Brit- 
ish, and engaged in the slave trade. He boards her, conducts him- 
self with perfect propriety, ascertains his error, and retires, with- 
out committing any injury. He is a trespasser, but no govern- 
ment would ever think of complaining in such a case. A perpe- 
tual right to stop, to search, and to seize, is one thing. A casual 
act of trespass, conceded to be such, excused by peculiar circum- 
stances, and immediately acknowledged and atoned for, is another. 
The latter may be pardoned. The former is intolerable. The 
commander of the boarding vessel is precisely in the condition of 
a sheriff's officer, who with a writ against A. arrests B. Now on 
a trial in an action of trespass, which B. might institute for this 
assault and battery, what would be the measure of damages, which 
an intelligent jury would apply to the case? They would adopt 
precisely the same rule, we have already laid down, in the case of 
the commander. If the officer had strong reasons to mistake the 
identity of B., and to suppose he was A., and if he had conduc- 
ted himself with perfect propriety, and had really committed no 
injury, he would be dismissed with nominal damages. Damages, 
which, while they asserted the great principle of liberty, would yet 
be perfectly valueless in their amount, leaving the ill-advised com- 
plainant to pay the costs. Such is the illustration of our maritime 
subject. In this manner the principle is saved, and flagrant abu- 
ses prevented. And why the naked principle is incalculably valu- 
able to the United States, is obvious. Upon it turns the claim of 
impressment. The exercise of that claim, as we have seen, is the 
consequence of a legal right of entry. So long as this entry is il- 
legal, so long the American seamen are, by British confession, safe 
from British power. We may illustrate this principle still farther, 
and it is well to do so, because Lord Aberdeen pushes the immu- 
nity, oven to the protection of piracy ; and some of the English 
journals have expressed a very patriotic fear of that result. Let 
us examine this matter. The cruiser of a civilized power approa- 
ches a region, where a pirate is known to have recently been com- 
mitting depredations. His appearance is described, and he is anx- 
iously watched. A vessel with the flag of the United States heaves 
in sight, and she bears a great resemblance to the corsair. She 
is entered, and the mistake is discovered. The act would be par- 
doned ; and especially, as the crime is proscribed by the law of 
nations; a law which all powers should support and enforce ; and 
it would not be difficult to suppose a case, where the public ship 
of a nation might be attacked, and under such strong presumption 
of her being a pirate, as to excuse, though not to justify, the ag- 
gression. When piracy was prevalent in the West Indies, some 
years since, the smaller vessels of the American squadron,employed 
in its suppression, were often disguised to deceive the pirates. If 
on8 of them had been mistaken bv a French or British frigate for 



LIFE O? GENERAL CASS. 157 

a piratical cruiser, she would have been attacked ; but the matter 
would have been amicably arranged, as was the controversy, re- 
specting the action between the American frigate the President 
and the British sloop of war the Little Belt, which occurred in 
profound peace, but w'as the result of mutual misunderstanding. 
Now, Lord Palmerston and Lord Aberdeen do not claim the right, 
in time of peace, under any circumstances, to search a vessel of war, 
in order to ascertain her nationality. Here the hunting rides invi- 
olate. But does it follow, that because a pirate hoists the flag of a 
Christian power, and assumes the appearance of one of her arm- 
ed ships, he is therefore beyond the reach of his pursuers ? Or that 
all the French vessels of war upon the ocean may be searched by 
a British ship, because the latter chooses to suspect they are pi- 
rates ? Such pretensions would be absurd. The public vessel is 
inviolable in principle, by universal consent, as the private vessel 
was, till this pretension arose. The immunity of the one has not 
prevented the suppression of piracy, nor would the immunity of 
the other prevent the suppression of the slave trade. Neither 
ought to be forcibly entered by a foreign power ; but if their guise 
is assumed, and in such a manner, as to deceive the honest cruiser, 
circumstances might occur to justify him in attacking the one, and 
in entering the other. 

But pursuing the analogy, and pushing the principle, as Lord Pal- 
merston pushes it, it is evident, that if the possible abuse of their 
flag, for the purpose, among other things, of carrying on the slave 
trade, is a proof that the merchant vessels of the United States 
may be stopped and searched ; then their armed ships may be also 
stopped and searched, or every corsair who may in like manner 
hoist their flag, may roam the ocean untouched. We leave the di- 
lemma, where the argument originated. With our views, there is 
no difficulty. These, we have sutficiently explained. 

Piracy has been put down, without any violation of the freedom 
of the seas, or of the independence of nations. The slave trade 
may be put down also, with the same sacred regard to those great 
principles. If occasional trespasses are committed, in attaining 
the one object or the other, let these be judged, as they arise. 
Sufficient unto the clay is the evil thereof. Let violence not be en- 
couraged and shielded in advance, and one of the best works of 
man, the code of opinion, by which the strong is restrained, and 
the weak protected upon the ocean, be broken up, and its frag- 
ments scattered to the wind. 

We come now to the consideration of this principle, as the Brit- 
ish statesmen lay it down, and more particularly in its application 
to the slave trade. We have seen, that Lord Palmerston, who cer- 
tainly expresses himself less guardedly than Lord Aberdeen, quali 
fies his general pQstulatum, concerning the search of the vessels of 
the United States, by this limitation, that there must be circum- 
stances justifying the suspicion, that they are not American j^ro- 
perty, and that their voyages are illegal. Lord Aberdeen goes 



138 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

farther. He claims no right of search, " except under the most 
grave suspicions and well found'ed doubts of the genuineness of 
its (the vessel's) character." And he too, requires, that the ob- 
ject of the vessel should be "Illegal.'' 

The most grave suspicions and locll founded douhts of icliat. 
Lord Aberdeen? Of violating your municipal laws ? If that pro- 
position is meant and can be maintained, then England is much 
nearer universal domination upon the ocean, than the most jealous 
observer of her maritime "steps" has ventured even to insinuate. 
She has only, by statutory provision, to declare, as she already de- 
clares in principle, that the employment of her native born sub- 
jects, in the American marine, military or commercial, is illegal ; 
and she can then enter the ships of the United States, and seize 
their crews, without resorting to the sophism, (we speak as a logi- 
cian, not offensively,) which actually casts an air of ridicule, upon 
this grave question, and by which the true object is attained, under 
a pretended one. 

She has only to declare piratical the transportation of the mer- 
chandise of France, as she has declared piratical the slave trade, 
and then every French ship sailing the ocean, and every other one 
indeed, may be stopped and searched, to ascertain, if they carry 
the wines of Bordeaux, the silks of Lyons, or the rich and elegant 
manufactured articles of Paris. From such a search, to seizure 
and condemnation is but another step ; and the tri-colored hunting 
of France, and the striped bunting of the American Union, might 
disappear from the face of the seas. 

Let no man say, that such things will not happen. Upon this 
subject we can no more assert what is probable, than we can pre- 
dict what will happen. No step in this onward progress can be 
more irreconcileable with common right and common sense, than 
was the paper blockade of half Europe, without even the pretence 
that this interdict was supported by an armed vessel, if it were but 
a gun-boat, to watch one hundredth part of the coast, thus pronoun- 
ced to be hermetically closed. 

But what constitutes this illegality, we are no where distinctly 
told. Indeed, the whole reasoning of Lord Aberdeen, upon this 
branch of the subject, is marked with a confusion, certainly not 
the characteristic of that accomplished statesman, but the result of 
the position, he felt it his duty to take. He says in one part of his 
dispatch, "that the present happy concurrence of the States of 
Christendom (Qu. some of the states of Europe ?) in this great ob- 
ject, not merely justifies, but renders indispensable the right now 
claimed and exercised by the British government." This, it will 
be observed, was written before the conclusion of the late treaty, 
between five of the European powers, upon this subject, and there- 
fore has relation only to the previous isolated treaties ; though that 
circumstance in our view, whatever it may do in that of Lord Aber- 
deen, changes nothing in the rights of the parties to this contro- 
versy. That all the powers of Christendom have not conceded 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 159 

this right of search, will not be disputed ; for we suppose the Uni- 
ted States may fairly claim to belong to that great brotherhood of 
nations. Is it possible Lord Aberdeen means all his words clearly 
express? Will he openly assume the principle, that the concur-, 
rence of some of the powers of Europe, great or small, in a mea- 
sure, even when avowedly and specifically confined to themselves, 
immediately and ipso facto, changes the law of nations, and sancti- 
fies the principles of the new measure ? If some future Napoleon 
should arise, and by a general continental convention, attempt to 
exclude Ensland from the markets of the world, would this act of 
violence become legal 1 Would it impose upon that country the 
moral duty of submission, because the "Juqjjri/ concurrence of some 
of the States of Christendom in the great object," had not only 
legalized, but had rendered the process, by which their decree was 
to be enforced, not merely justifable, hut indispensal^le 1 This is 
no reasoning for the nineteenth century, and we can no longer oc- 
cupy ourselves with it. 

If the right of search is here placed, as we see, upon the obliga- 
tion created by the partial treaties for the suppression of the slave 
trade, there are passages in ihe dispatches of both Lord Palmerston 
and Lord Aberdeen, where it is placed upon the municipal law of 
England. These are to be found, where Lord Aberdeen invokes 
the necessity of examining American ships, to ascertain, if they 
are not " British ships with British capital," carrying on a traffic 
"which the law (the municipal law of England) has declared to be 
piracy." And Lord Palmerston says, that without this right of search- 
ing American vessels, "even the laws of Encrland miijht be set 
at defiance by her own subjects." And so they may be evaded in 
a thousand ways, and have been evaded by means, furnished by 
ships both English and foreign. And why confine this claim of 
search to the evasion of the laws, respecting the slave trade ? Why 
not extend it to all cases, which may happen, and stop and seize 
upon the ocean all vessels, suspected or pretended to be suspected, 
of aiding in such evasion ? And why should not a French cruiser 
overhaul and search any merchant man, foreign as well as French, 
which, it may be pretended, has on board a young conscript, flee- 
ing from the conscription ? This branch of the discussion has al- 
ready extended too far. We do not believe it is necessary for any 
intelligent reader, that we should farther push the refutation of the 
pretension, that a British boarding crew may enter any American 
ship she meets, with a view to give efl^ent to the British laws. That 
time may come, and perhaps will come, if this step is gained. But 
before then, many strange events may come to pass. 

But it will be seen also, that this illegality, which we are in 
search of, is created, not only by treaty stipulations and municipal 
laws, but by the laws of nations. To this last authority the United 
States avow their entire submission, and what that ordains, they 
will cheerfully obey. Lord Aberdeen says that the fraudulent 
abuse of the American flag "constitutes that reasonable ground of 



160 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

suspicion, which the law of nations requires in such a case." Let 
Lord Aberdeen put his finger upon that part of the law, which ap- 
plies to "such a case," and all opposition to the pretensions of his 
country is at an end. But it is the fair provision, which is de- 
manded, and not a substitute, created by a false analogy. This 
doctrine is not to be supported, by transferring to this subject prin- 
ciples and practices, applicable only to a state of war, and to acts, 
which are then "illegal," by the unanimous consent of mankind. 

But after all, supposing the law to be as laid down, that Ameri- 
can vessels may be searched, because their voyages may be some- 
times "illegal," what are the circumstances, which justify the ex- 
ercise of this measure, agreeably to the British doctrine? We 
repeat the rule, as stated by Lord Aberdeen. No vessel bearing 
the American flag ought to be visited by a British cruiser, except 
" under the rnost grave suspicions, and well founded doubts of the 
genuineness of its character." What is the practical application 
of this rule ? Why, American vessels are visited, in the language 
of Lord Aberdeen, " in certain latitudes and for a particular ob- 
ject." That is to say, their very appearance in "certain latitudes" 
is a "grave suspicion," and thence follows the entry, the detention, 
the search, and, it may be, the seizure ! If this is not reversing 
the natural order of things, and casting the burden of proof upon 
the injured party, we confess our inability to understand the sub- 
ject. This amounts to a complete blockade of the great southern 
ocean, from Rio Janeiro to the Bight of Benin. How long ii may 
continue, and how much farther it may extend, we leave to history 
to tell. 

There is a tendency in the communications of both the British 
Secretaries of State for Foreign Affairs, to consider the African slave 
trade as piracy. This point established, and all opposition to this 
claim of search, in cases honaJi.de suspicious, would cease. Lord 
Palmerston speaks of "slave trading pirates," and Lord Aberdeen 
of "piratical adventurers." 

But this is loose language, except so far as it has reference to 
municipal laws. The slave trade is nefarious, unjustifiable, and 
ought every where to be proscribed, and rigorously punished. But 
it is one of that class of acts, whose criminality depends upon the 
laws of different countries. A nation or a combination of nations 
may call it piracy, and apply to their own citizens the punishment 
usually prescribed for that crime. But this change of names 
changes nothing in the nature of things, and piracy is now, by the 
law of nations, what it has been for ages past. 

As to the status of slavery itself, it were idle to contend it is il- 
legal by the common consent of mankind. It has existed since the 
earliest ages of the world, and there is probably no nation, ancient 
or modern, among whom it has not been known. By, some, it has 
been abolished ; and where it yet survives, we hope its condition 
has been meliorated. This is certainly true of the United States. 
A general disposition is gaining ground to improve the situation of 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 



161 



this unfortunate class of society. This is felt in the Southern 
states of the American confederacy, as well as elsewhere, and he 
who should judge of the treatment of the slaves in that region, 
by their treatment in the West India colonies, would do the South- 
ern planter egregious injustice. The best proof of tliis assertion 
is the fact, disclosed by the statistical tables, published by the Amer- 
ican government, that in some slave states the slaves increase faster 
than the white population; and another fact, not less significative, 
is the rate of their natural augmentation. This is found to be 
between twenty five and thirty per cent i» each decennial period. 
A very respectable countryman, now here, in v.'hose statement we 
place full confidence, has just informed us, he has examined the 
subject and finds, though there are more than fourteen millions of 
free white persons in the United States, and but two millions and 
a half of slaves, yet the number in the latter class, over one hun- 
dred years of age, is almost double that in the former. 

We are no slaveholder. We never have been. We never shall 
be. We deprecate its existence in principle, and pray for its abo- 
lition everywhere, where this can be efiected justly, and peaceably, 
and safely for both parties. But we would not carry fire, and de- 
vastation, and murder, and ruin into a peaceful community, to push 
on the accomplishment of the object. But, after having visited 
the three quarters of the old Continent, we say before God and 
the world, that we have seen far more, and more frightful misery, 
since we landed in Europe, and we have not visited Ireland yet, 
than in the United States. Whatever may be said, there is much 
of the patriarchal relation between the Southern planter and the 
slave. And as to the physical distress, which is seen in Europe, 
resulting from a want of food, and from exposure to a rigorous 
winter, without adequate clothing, we believe it to be so rare, as. 
not to form a just element in the. consideration of this matter. 
But the subject of the emancipation of two millions and a half of ^ 
human beings, living among another population, of different race 
and color, and with different habits and feelings, is one of the 
gravest questions, which can submitted to society to solve, it caa 
be safely left, only to those, who are to be so seriously affected by 
it ; and there it is left by the Constitution of the United Staes. It 
is a matter, with which the General Government has no concern. 

And so with respect to the slave trade. It is a traffic, which 
can be traced back to the time of Jacob, whose son was sold into 
Egypt; and down, in some form or other, during the successive 
ages, which have intervened, to the last century, when by treaty 
arrangements with Spain, England obtained, as a great commer- 
cial favor, the privilege of supplying the Spanish colonies with 
slaves,* and the present, when after many years of bitter opposi- 

* The first article of the treaty of Madrid of 26th March, 1713, is thus conceiv-, 
ed, whereas the assienio, which was formed with the Company Royal of Guinea, 
established in France to furnish negro slaves for the West Indies, has expired 
and the Queen of Great Britain wishing to enter into this commerce, iind in her 
name the English Company, etc. 
11 



.1 



162 " LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

tion, the English Parliament voted the abolition of the slave trade j 
but when some of the greatest names* in England, were found in 
the minority. These Statesmen, by their votes not only pronounc- 
ed the slave trade to be legal and expedient, but moral also, so far, 
as that consideration formed, at that time, a motive of legislative 
action. That it is illegal, by the great code of public law, no 
statesman, nor publicist, or well informed man will seriously con- 
tend. Thanks to the advancing opinions of the age, its atrocity 
is generally acknowledged, and the obligation of Christian States 
to extirpate it, almost everywhere felt and obeyed. But it is not 
permitted, in order to attain a great good, to commit a great evil. 
In order to break up this traffic, to breakdown the barriers, which 
•centuries have been rearing, and by which the weak are every- 
where protected against the strong, the peaceful against the war- 
like. The law of nations is but general opinion, illustrated by 
able jurists, and sanctified by time, and by universal acquiescence. 
'Touch it rudely, and the whole fabric will disappear, leaving the 
nations of the world, in their mutual relations, as they existed in 
the most barbarous ages. 

Most wisely and most impressively therefore, did Lord Stowell 
say, " No nation has the right to force their way, for the libera- 
tion of Africa, by trampling upon the independence of other States, 
on the pretence of an eminent good, by means, that are unlawful ; 
or to press forward to a great principle, by breaking through other 
great principles, which stand in their way." 

Words of deep wisdom and solemn warning; and lamentable is 
it, that their obligation has scarcely outlived the able and venera- 
ble judge, by whom they were pronounced. And above all is it 
to be deplored, that the first public practical disavowal of these 
sentiments should come from a country, whose law they were 
ruled to be. 

We have already adverted to the opinion of the Duke of Well- 
int^ton, in connexion with that of Lord Stowell. This we did from 
memory, but at the moment of writing this part of our remarks, 
we have been enabled to refer to a debate in the House of Lords 
in July 1839, where his sentiments are fully disclosed. With 
that spirit of frankness and sagacity, which are not the least emi- 
nent, among the qualities of that eminent man, he predicted the 
issue, to which this pretension must lead. He said, " the clause 
in question made it lawful to detain any vessels whatever, on sus- 
picion, on the high seas, and demand their papers ; and the per- 

* In looking over Clarkson's History of the abolition of the slave trade, we find 
that the cabinet of Mr. Pitt was divided upon this subject, and that the sincerity 
of that distinguished man in the support of it was generally doubted. And Clark- 
son states that from the known sentiments of the King, the veto of the bill was 
feared. 

Among the opponents, we find the Duke of Clarence, (afterwards William the 
Fourth,) who called the supporters of the hlW, fanatics and hypocrites, Lords 
Thurlow, Rodney, Sheffield, Eldon, Saint Vincent, Liverpool, Sidmouth (who 
■was Mr. Addington.) Hawksbury (who wasM. Jenkinson.) Mr. Dundas, Colonel 
Tarleton, Major Scott, etc. 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 163 

sons exercising such authority were moreover indemnified for all 
the consequences. Was it intended, that the vessels of any power 
in Europe might be searched, and afterwards allowed to proceed 
on their voyage, whether we had treaties with those powers or not ? 
Such a law would be a perfect novelty in the legislation of this 
country, and the House ought to well pause before they adopted it." 
Again, on the 15th August, the Duke remarked, " it was well 
known, that with the United States we had no convention ; there 
were indeed engagements, made by diplomatic notes, but nothing 
went to show the least disposition on their part to permit the right 
o/ detention and the search of papers ; and if there was one point, 
more to be avoided than another, it was that relating to the visi- 
tation of vessels, belonging to the Union. He warned government 
not to proceed, but rather to issue an order in council or a decla- 
ration of war." 

We quote the remarks of Lord Brougham, because they are 
equally honorable to himself, to truth, and to the American Gov- 
ernment. "It could not be disguised, that we were peculiarly 
situated, with respect to the United States ; because we had not 
effected any treaty, conferring such right ot search. It should be 
borne in mind, that the United States, at the very earliest period, 
they were enabled to do so by the federal union, had adopted the 
abolition of the slave trade, and were in fact the first to make it 
piracy, for any one of its subjects to carry it on. The government 
of the United States was not so strong as a monarchial govern- 
ment, nor had it such direct and powerful means of controlling its 
subjects.*' And he remarks with respect to the sale of American 
ships to persons carrying on the slave trade, " but the people 
njight not after all be answerable for the purposes, to which they 
were devoted ; not more so, certainly, than an English ship-buil- 
der, who sold vessels, constructed in his yard, which were after- 
wards despatched to the coast of Africa." 

We shall not add a word to the authority of these high names. 
Their decisions need no commentary from us. 

Keeping in view the preceding course of discussion, it is obvi- 
ous, that upon the principles, heretofore received among mankind, 
if the United States should peremptorily refuse all co-operation, 
in any effort to put down the slave trade, they would be responsi- 
ble only to the public opinion of nations, and to him, by whom 
nations rise and fall It would be but the consequence, says the 
London San " of our former proceedings, which have made it im- 
possible for the Americans to admit this claim. By committing 
injustice on our own people, we have bred up our officers in arbi- 
trary habits, which have made them arbitrary to other nations, 
and the consequences debar England from following out her hu- 
mane wishes to suppress the slave trade." 

But the United States refuse no such co-operation. They have 
interdicted, as we have seen, this trade to their citizens, and have 
provided exemplary punishments, for the transgressors. They 



1(54 , LIFE OP GENERAL CASS. 

have, for many years, kept a squadron upon the coast of Africa, 
to aid in its suppression, and they are now making arrangements 
for its augmentation. We do not alTect to deny, that a general 
right of search would assist the objects, which all the Christian 
powers ar.e seeking to attain. It would be an additional means of 
detection ; but such a right is not at all indispensable to success. 
Much has already been done, and the work is going on now. It 
would be greatly promoted, if the markets in countries to which 
slaves are yet transported, were closed to this traffic. If these 
unhappy victims of lawless violence could not be sold, they would 
not be bought. Let a general effort be made with the Spanish, 
Portuguese and Brazilian governments to induce them to act vi- 
gorously in this matter, by judicious municipal regulations, faith- 
fully executed ; and a powerful means of success wil! be put in 
motion, without " breaking down the great principles, which now 
stand in its way." 

That the efforts to suppress the slave trade may be rendered 
successful, without the adoption of this obnoxious measure, is evi- 
dent, from a suggestion in a London journal, which, with just feel- 
ing, seeks to avert the impending consequences of this claim of 
search. This journal proposes, that an officer of the British and 
American navies shall reciprocally sail in one of the cruisers of 
the respective nations, and that such officer shall exercise the right 
of search in the vessels of his own country, thus ascertaining their 
character and objects, and seizing them, when guilty, without any 
violation of the rights of sovereignty. We do not stop to examine 
this proposition ; we merely allude to it, to show that in a spirit of 
accommodation, means may be found to reconcile all avowed ob- 
jects, with national dignity and independence. Such apian would 
possess one advantage. It would be truly reciprocal ; whereas the 
proffered power to search is but the mockery of reciprocity to- 
wards the United States, whose institutions will permit impressment, 
as a means of manning their navy. While, therefore, the British 
officer enters to search and impress, and the American officer en- 
ters to search, the inequality is too glaring to need illustration. 

But after all, what kind of philanthropy is that, which seeks not 
merely to put down the African slave trade, but to put it down by 
the employment of one means among many, and which means if 
persisted in, as threatened, will as surely involve two great nations 
in war, as to-morrow's sun will rise upon both ? And who can 
tell the issue of such a war, not merely to the parties themselves, 
t'hat we shall not touch, but to the civilized world ? Who can tell 
the questions of maritime right, which will arise during its progress,. 
and maritime wrongs, which will be inflicted? Who can tell how 
soon its sphere will be enlarged, and the oppressions of Africa be 
lost sight of, in the struggles of Europe and America. 

It is strange indeed, but so it is, that one of the modes proposed . 
for the liberation of the negro, from the traffic of his flesh and blood 
will necessarily lead to the bondage of the American seaman; 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 165 

where his flesh and blood are not indeed sold, but where they are 
taken without price, and may be swept away by the cannon of his 
own country. " When they doubted, they took* the trick." Words, 
which all Americans should grave upon their hearts. We may 
safely appeal to any generous Englishman and Frenchman, and 
ask, what would be their sensations, if told, " I>.s ive do seize 7/our 
citizens, we loill seize them ; v;hen tee doubt we take the trick," Let 
each answer for himself, and that answer will disclose the feelings 
of the Americans ; for this trick it is a man, an American citizen. 
By and by, after after law shall have worked its xoay far enough, 
the trick may become a French citizen ; and what sort of a strug- 
gle will come when that step is taken ? 

But should the United States yield to this claim, what security 
is there for them, or for nations, like them, interested in the free- 
dom of the seas, that it would not be followed by another and another 
pretension, till the British flag rode triumphant over the waters of 
the earth? How far is to be pushed this crusade of benevolence, 
which would involve east and west in one calamity, in order to at- 
tain, in its own way, an object which must come, and that speedi- 
ly ? There are significant signs abroad, that this is but the com- 
mencement of a system, destined to a wide extension. Already 
the project has been publicly discussed in England, of putting a 
stop to the sale of its products. It has been supported in the jour- 
nals, and advocated we believe, in parliament. The scheme has 
not yet ripened into a plan. But benevolence is sometimes shrewd 
as well as active, and the proposition, so far, is merely to interdict 
the sale of these products in England ; yet who can tell how soon 
the question may enter in an improved form, into the maritime 
code of nations? It would be but another step, and though it 
might be accompanied by another struggle, leading to universal 
war, what cares the philanthropist for this? Laic icould work its 
oicn way. Slavery is wrong, as well as the slave trade. We can- 
not enter upon the territory of another nation, to suppress it. But 
we will seize its products upon the ocean. They shall become 
contraband of peace. No cotton, rice, coffee, sugar nor tobacco, 
noPthe product of free labor, shall be lawful freight. And thus the 
object just, the means must be just also. 

But here we drop the discussion, leaving every reflecting man 
to draw his own conclusions. Most sincerely do we hope, that 
Lord Ashburton carries out, to the American Government some 
modified proposition, it can accept. But we freely confess, look- 
ing to the pretensions of both parties and knowing the feelings of 
our countrymen, that we do not see, upon what middle ground they 
can meet. Our fears are stronger than our hopes ; and sad will 
be the day, when two such nations go to war. Even if England 
were clearly right, as in our opinion she is clearly wrong, she 
might forbear much, without any imputation upon her honor. She 
has won her way to distinction by a thousand feats in arms, and 
what is her better title to renown, by countless feats in peace. 



166 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

Triumphs of genius, of skill, of industry and of enterprise, whiclif 
have gained her a name, that the proudest may envy and that few- 
can hope to equal. She has given birth to an empire in the west. 
An empire, whose extent and duration it passes human sagacity, 
even to conjecture. There are planted her laws, her language, 
her manners, her institutions. A thousand ties of interest unite 
these kindred people. Let England cherish this, as her most glo- 
rious work. But let her recollect too, that a spirit, equal to her 
own, animates the republic, and though she may be crushed, that 
she will not be dishonored. 

The protest of General Cass met with the warmest approbation 
from his countrymen ; nor could the administration, although dif- 
fering in political views, withhold its acknowledgement of the sig- 
nal service rendered by him at this eventful and unexpected exi- 
gency. The protest is truly patriotic and American in its senti- 
ments. It excited the indignation of the English government and 
press. Its author was abused without stint in the public newspa- 
pers and in parliament. Its influence may be justly estimated by 
its effect upon those whose schemes it defeated. 

The document which exerted so much influence upon the pro- 
ceedings of great and powerful nations, was the following : 

Legation of the United States, 

Paris, I'Sth Fehruary, 1842. 
M. GuizoT, Minister of Foreign Affairs : 

Sir — The recent signature of a treaty, having for its object the 
suppression of the African slave trade, by five of the powers of 
Europe, and to which France is a party, is a fact of such general 
notoriety, that it rnay be assumed as the basis of any diplomatic 
representations which the subject may fairly require. 

The United States, being no party to this treaty, have no right 
to inquire into the circumstances which have led to it, nor ♦nto 
the measures it proposes to adopt, except so far as they have rea- 
son to believe that their rights may be involved in the course of 
its execution. 

Their own desire to put a stop to this traffic, is everywhere 
known, as well as the early and continued efforts they have adopt- 
ed, to prevent their citizens from prosecuting it. They have been 
invited by the government of Great Britain to become a party to 
a treaty, which should regulate the action of the combined gov- 
ernments upon the subject. But. for reasons satisfactory to them- 
selves, and, I believe, satisfactory to the world, they have declined 
this united action, and have chosen to pursue their own measures, 
and to act upon their own citizens, without subjecting these to 
any kind of foreign jurisdiction. 



LIFE OE GENERAL CASS. 167 

In a communication from Lord Palmerston, Her Brittanic Ma- 
jesty's principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, to Mr. Ste- 
venson, the American Minister at London, dated 27th August, 
1841, Lord Palmerston claims a right for Her Majesty's cruisers, 
and avows the intention of his government to exercise it, to search 
American vessels at sea in time of peace, with a view to ascertain 
their national character. He adds, that "this examination of pa- 
pers of merchantmen suspected o! being engaged in the slave 
trade, even though they hoist an United States' flag, is a proceed- 
ing which it is absolutely necessary that British cruisers employed 
in the suppression of the slave trade, should continue to prac- 
tice," &c. 

In a communication from the successor of Lord Palmerston, 
Lord Aberdeen, to Mr. Stevenson, dated 13th October, 1841, the 
views and determination announced in the first, are confirmed ; 
and Lord Aberdeen thus states the ground upon which rests this 
pretension to search American vessels in time of peace : " But 
the undersigned must observe, that the present happy concurrence 
of the states of Christendom in this great object, (the suppression 
of the slave trade,) not merely justifies, but renders indispensable, 
the right now claimed and exercised by the British government;" 
that is to say, the right of entering and examining American ves- 
sels to ascertain their true nationality. 

It is no part of my duty to offer any comments upon this pre- 
tension, nor upon the reasons advanced in support of it. And if 
it were, I should find the duty far better performed for me, than I 
could perform it for myself, in the annual message of the President 
of the United States to Congress, of 7th December, 1841. In 
that document will be found the views of the American govern- 
ment upon this subject, and it is there emphatically declared that, 
"However desirous the United States may be for the suppression 
of the slave trade, they cannot consent to interpolations into the 
maritime code, at the mere will or pleasure of other governments. 
We deny the right of any such interpolation to any one, or to all 
the nations of the earth, without our consent. We claim to have 
a voice in all amendments or alterations of that code; and when 
we are given to understand, as in this instance, by a foreign gov- 
ernment, that its treaties with other nations cannot be executed 
without the establishment and enforcement of new principles of 
maritime police, we must employ a language neither of equivocal 
import, nor susceptible of misconstruction." 

You will perceive, sir, by these extracts, that the British gov- 
ernment has advanced a pretension which it asserts to be indispen- 
sable to the execution of its treaties for the suppression of the 
slave trade, and to which the President of the United States has 
declared that the American government will not submit. This 
claim of search, it will be observed, arising, as is asserted, out of 
existincr oblicrations, has relation to the isolated treaties for the 
abolition of this traffic, which were in force at the date of the 



168 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

communication of Lord Palmerston and of Lord Aberdeen. It is 
now known, that the combined treaty upon this subject, is more 
extensive in its operations, and more minute in some of the details 
of its execution, than the separate treaties with France which pre- 
ceded it, and equally indefinite in the duration of its obligations. 

Of course, measures which were not only "justifiable but indis- 
pensable" for the execution of the latter, will find equal justice 
and necessity in the obligations of the former. 

With this previous declaration, made by one of the parties to 
this Quintuple Treaty, concerning its operations, the American 
government cannot shut their eyes to their true position. The 
moral effect which such an union of five great powers, two of 
which are eminently maritime, but three of which have perhaps 
never had a vessel engaged in that traffic, is calculated to produce 
upon the United States and upon other nations which, like them, 
may be indisposed to these combined movements, though it may 
be regretted, yet furnishes no just cause for complaint. But the 
subject assumes another aspect, when they are told by one of the 
parties, that their vessels are to be forcibly entered and examined, 
in order to carry into effect these stipulations. Certainly the Ame- 
rican government does not believe that the high powers, contract- 
ing parties to this treaty, have any wish to compel the United 
States, by force, to adapt their measures to its provisions, or to 
adopt its stipulations. They have too much confidence in their 
sense of justice to fear any such result ; and they will see with 
pleasure the prompt disavowal made by yourself, sir, in the name 
of your country, at the Tribune of the Chamber of Deputies, of 
any intentions of this nature. But were it otherwise, and were it 
possible, they might be deceived in this confident expectation, that 
would not alter^in one tittle their course of action. Their duty 
would be the same, and the same would be their determination to 
fulfil it. They would prepare themselves — with apprehension in- 
deed, but without dismay — with regret, but with firmness— for one 
of those desperate struggles, which have sometimes occurred in 
the history of the world, but where a just cause and the favor of 
Providence have given strength to comparative weakness, and ena- 
bled it to break down the pride of power. 

But I have already said the United States do not fear that any 
such united atteuipt will be made upon their independence. What, 
however, they may reasonably fear, in what they do fear is, that in 
the execution of this treaty, measures will be taken which they 
must resist. How far the acts of one of the parties, putting its 
own construction upon its own duties and upon the obligations of 
its co-contractors, may involve these in any unlooked for conse- 
quences, either by the adoption of similar measures, or by their 
rejection, I do not presume to judge. Certain it is, however, that 
if the fact and the principle advanced by Lord Aberdeen are cor- 
rect, that these treaties for the abolition of the slave trade cannot 
be executed without forcibly boarding American ships at sea in 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 169 

time of peace, and that the obligations created by these confer not 
only the right thus to violate the American flag, but make this 
measure a duty, then it is also the duty of France to pursue the 
same course. Should she put this construction upon her obliga- 
tions, it is obvious the United States must do to her as they will 
do to England, if she persists in this attack upon their indepen- 
dence. Should she not, it does not become me to investigate the 
nature of her position with respect to one of her associates, whose 
opinion concerning their relative duties vvonld be so widely differ- 
ent from her own. 

But I may express the hope, that the government of His Majes- 
ty, before ratifying this treaty, will examine maturely the preten- 
sions asserted by one of the parties, and see how these can be re- 
conciled, not only with the honor and interest of the United States, 
but with the received principles of the Great Maritime Code of 
nations. I may make this appeal with the more confidence, from 
the relations subsisting between France and the United States, 
from a community of interest in the liberty of the seas; from a 
community of opinion respecting the principles which guard it; 
and from a community in danger, should it ever be menaced by 
the ambition of any maritime power. 

It appears to me, sir, that in asking the attention of His Majes- 
ty's government to the subject of the Quintuple Treaty, with a 
view to its reconsideration, I am requesting nothing on the part of 
the United States inconsistent with the duties of France to other 
powers. 

If, durinof the course of the discussions upon this treaty, pre- 
paratory to the arrangement of its provisions, England had assert- 
ed to the other parties the pretensions she now asserts to the Uni- 
ted States, as a necessary consequence of its obligation, 1 cannot 
be wrong in presuming that France would not have signed it, with- 
out guarding against this impending difficulty. 

The views of England are now disclosed to you, fortunately be- 
fore its ratification. And this change of circumstances may well 
justify the French government in interposing such a remedy as it 
may think is demanded by the grave interests involved in this 
question. 

As to the treaties of 1831 and 1833, between France and Great 
Britain, for the suppression of the slave trade, I do not consider 
it my duty to advert to their stipulations. Their obligations upon 
the contracting parties, whatever they may be, are now complete ; 
and it is for my government alone to determine what measures the 
United States ought to take to avert the consequences with which 
they are threatened by the construction which one of the parties 
has given to these instruments. 

I have the honor to transmit herewith a copy of the message of 
the President of the United States to Congress, in December last, 
and of the annual documents which accompanied it. Among the 
latter will be found the correspondence between the British Secre- 



170 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS." 

taries of State and Mr. Stevenson, upon the subject herein refer- 
red to. From these you will learn the respective views of the 
American and British governments. 

It is proper for me to add, that this communication has been 
made without any instructions from the United States. I have 
considered this case as one in which an American representative 
to a foreign power should act without awaiting the orders of his 
government. I have presumed, in the views I have submitted to 
you, that I express the feelings of the American government and 
people. If in this I have deceived myself, the responsibility will 
be mine. As soon as I can receive despatches from the United 
States, in answer to my communications, I shall be enabled to de- 
clare to you either that my conduct has been approved by the Pre- 
sident, or that my mission is terminated. 

I avail myself, &c. &c. 

LEW. CASS, &c. 



CHAPTER X. 

Effect of the protest upon the action of the French government, respecting the 
Quintuple Treaty-The Ashburton Treaty-Proceedings of Gov. Cass, on receiv- 
ing copy of treaty — His correspondence with Mr. Webster, Secretary of State. 

The frankness and boldness of Gov. Cass, in laying this protest 
before the French government and people, while it aroused the 
anger of the British government, deterred her from pursuing her 
object in the manner she commenced. The French chamber of 
deputies having their attention awakened to an examination of the 
schemes of England's ministers, refused to become a party thereto. 
Anxious to retreat with some appearance of honor, and unwilling 
to appear to the world, altogether unsuccessful in her project, and 
wishing to impress nations with her sincerity and laudable motives, 
which suggested the Quintuple Treaty, England opened a negotia- 
tion with the United States, on the subject, A special minister was 
sent to this country with authority to adjust and definitely settle all 
matters of difference between the two countries. A treaty was made 
and concluded, and signed by Lord Ashburton, the British am- 
bassador, and Daniel Webster, American Secretary of State. The 
President directed Mr. Webster, in communicating this treaty to 
Gen. Cass, in France, to call his attention particularly to the 
clauses relating to the suppression of the African slave trade. 
The provisions in regard to that subject, in its connection with the 
right of search, as claimed by Great Britain, did not meet the 
views of Gen. Cass ; nor could he consistently approve of them, 
even so indirectly, as to retain his position at the court of St. 
Cloud. He considered that the omission to procure a renunciation 
of the offensive claim of the English government, while negotia- 
tions were pending upon the very subject, which formed the pre- 
tended basis of the claim, placed him in a false position, and ren- 
dered his situation unpleasant to him. Truly his conduct in de- 
nouncing the pretension ; in arraying against it a powerful people 



172 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

and government, and so preparing an easy and open path, for 
whoever might be charged with the management of subsequent 
negotiation, was approved by the Executive of his government ; 
yet when the subject came to be an object of treaty arrangement, 
when it was clothed with the solemnity of law, to be known and 
obeyed by the nations of the world, it was of greater moment to 
him, who had stood forth alone, and with his single arm, kept back 
the stride of a powerful ministry, to supremacy on the great high- 
way of the world, that his course should be approved by the entire 
treaty making power of his country, than that his action should 
rest upon the individual and ephemeral sanction of the President 

Desiring no longer, under such circumstances, a further resi- 
dence in France, as the representative of his country, he requested 
permission to return home. The President, acknowledging the 
loss to this country, by the withdrawal of Gen. Cass, from so im- 
portant a mission at that crisis, reluctantly gave his official consent. 
Gen. Cass, on receipt of a copy of the treaty, presented 
it to the governmeut of France, with an accompanying let- 
ter from Mr. Webster. Although disappointed at the omis- 
sion of those stipulations, which he regarded as of paramount 
importance, his patriotism and pride for his country, would not 
allow the utterance of a word of dissent or regret to escape him, at 
a foreign court. But with his ov/n government he felt his position 
to be different, and himself at liberty to express to his countrymen, 
his feelings and sentiments without reserve. Hence, arose the 
celebrated controversy between Gen. Cass and Mr. Webster, im- 
mediately preceding, and after the termination of the official re- 
lation of the former. 

The letters of Gen Cass, which follow, contain a complete his- 
tory and examination of the subject of controversy, and cannot fail 
to impress the reader with the conviction, that his position is truly 
American, in principle, and is sustained by a cogency of argu- 
ment which cannot be controverted. 

Legation of the United States, Paris, Ocfoher 3, 1842. 
Sir : The last packet brought me your letter of August 29th, 
announcing the conclusion of a treaty with Great Britain, and ac- 
companied by a copy of it, and the correspondence between the 
ministers charged with the negotiations, and directing me to make 
known to M. Guizot the sentiments of the American Government 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 175 

upon that part of the treaty which provides for the co-operation of 
the United States in the efforts making to suppress the African 
slave trade. I thought I should best fulfil your intentions by com- 
municating a copy, ill eztenso, of your letter. This I accordingly 
did yesterday. I trust I shall be able, before my departure, to trans- 
mit to you the acknowledgment of its receipt by M.Guizot. 

In executing this duty, I felt too well what was due to my go- 
vernment and country to intimate any regret to a foreign power 
that some declaration had not preceded the treaty, or some stipu- 
lation accompanied it, by which the extraordinary pretension of 
Great Britain to search our ships, at all times and in all places, 
first put forth to the world by Lord Palmerston on the 27 th August, 
1841, and on the 13th October following, again peremptorily claim- 
ed as a right by Lord Aberdeen, would have been abrogated as 
equally incompatible with the laws of nations and with the inde- 
pendence of the United States. I confined myself, therefore to a 
simple communication of your letter. 

But this reserve ceases when I address my own government, and, 
connected as I feel my official conduct and reputation with this 
question of the right of search, I am sure I shall find an excuse 
for what might otherwise be considered presumption, if, as one of 
the last acts of my official career, I submit to you, and through 
you to the President, the peculiar circumstances in which I am 
placed by the conclusion of this treaty, and by the communication 
of your letter to M. Guizot. 

Before proceeding further, however, permit me to remark that 
no one rejoices more sincerely than I do at the termination of our 
difficulties with Great Britain, so far as thei/ are terminated. That 
country and ours have so many moral and material interests in- 
volved in their intercourse, that their respective governments and 
inhabitants may well feel more than ordinary solicitude for the pre- 
servation of peace between these two great nations. Our past his- 
tory, however, will be unprofitable if it do not teach us that unjust 
pretensions, affecting our rights and honor, are best met by being 
promptly repelled when first urged, and by being received in a 
spirit of resistance worthy the character of our people and of the 
great trust confided to us as the depositaries of the freest system 
of crovernment which the world has yet witnessed. 

1 had the honor, in my letter of the 17th ultimo, to solicit per- 
mission to return to the United States. That letter was written 
the day a copy of the treaty reached Paris, and the remark which 
I then made to you, that " I could no longer be useful here," has 
been confirmed by subsequent reflection and by the receipt of your 
letter and of the correspondence accompanying it. I feel that I 
could no longer remain here honorably for myself or advantageously 
for our country. 

In my letter to you of the 15th February last, transmitting a 
copy of my protest against the ratification of the quintuple treaty 
for the suppression of the African slave trade, I took the liberty of 



174 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

suggesting the propriety of demanding from Lord Ashburton, pre- 
viously to entering into any negotiation, a distinct renunciation of 
this claim to search our vessels. I thought then, as I do now, that 
this course was demanded by a just self-respect, 'and would be sup- 
ported by that tribunal of public opinion which sustains our gov- 
ernment when right and corrects it when wrong. The pretension 
itself, was one of the most flagrant outrages which could be aimed 
at an independent nation, and the mode of its enunciation was as 
coolly contemptuous as diplomatic ingenuity could suggest. We 
were told that, to the doctrine that American vessels were free from 
the search of foreign cruizers in time of peace, "the British gov- 
ernment never could or would subscribe." And we were told, too, 
there was reason to expect that the United States would themselves 
become converts to the same opinion ; and this expectation was 
founded on the hope that "they would cease to confound two things 
which are in their nature entirely difterent, and would look to 
things and not to words." And the very concluding paragraph of 
the British correspondence tells us, in effect, that we may take 
whatever course we please, but that England will adhere to this 
pretension to board our vessels when and where her cruizers may 
find them. A portion of this paragraph is equally significative and 
unceremonious. "It is for the American government," says Lord 
Aberdeen, "alone to determine what may be due to a just regard 
for their national dignity and national independence." I doubt if, 
in the wide range of modern diplomacy, a more obnoxious claim 
has been urged in a more obnoxious manner. 

This claim, thus asserted and supported, was promptly met and 
firmly repelled by the President in his message at the commence- 
ment of the last session of Congress ; and in your letter to me, ap- 
proving the course I had adopted in relation to the question of the 
ratification by France of the quintuple treaty, you consider the 
principles of that message as the established policy of the govern- 
ment. Under these circumstances of the assertion and denial of 
this new claim of maritime police, the eyes of Europe were upon 
these two great naval powers, one of which had advanced a preten- 
sion, and avowed her determination to enforce it, which might at 
any moment bring them into collision. So far our national dignity 
was uncompromited. 

But England then urged the United States to enter into a con- 
ventional arrangement, by which we might be pledged to concur 
with her in measures for the suppression of the slave trade. Till 
then, we had executed our own laws in our own way. But yield- 
mg to this application, and departing from our former principle of 
avoiding European combinations upon subjects not American, we 
stipulated, in a solemn treaty, that we would carry into effect our 
own laws, and fixed the minimum force we would employ for that 
purpose. Certainly, a laudable desire to terminate this horrible 
man-stealing and man-selling, may well justify us in going further, 
in changing one of the fundamental principles of our policy, in 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 175 

order to effect this object, than we would go to effect ^any other. 
It is so much more a question of feeling than of reasoning, that 
we can hardly be wrong in yielding to that impulse, which leads 
us to desire to unite our efforts with those of other nations for the 
protection of the most sacred human rights. But while making so 
important a concession to the renewed application of England, it 
seems to me we might well have said to her, "before we treat upon 
this matter, there is a preliminary question connected with it, 
which nmst be settled. We wdll do no act which may, by any pos- 
sibility, appear to be a recognition of your claim to search our ves- 
sels. That claim has arisen out of this very subject, «r at any 
rate, this subject has been the pretext for its assertion, and if we 
now negotiate upon it, and our concurrence is yielded, you must 
relinquish, as solemnly as you have announced, this most offensive 
pretension. If this is not done, by now making a conventional 
arrangement with you, and leaving you free to take your own 
course, we shall, in effect, abandon the ground we have assumed, 
and with it our rights and honor." 

In carefully looking at the seventh and eighth articles of the 
treaty, providing for our co-operation in the measures for the sup- 
pression of this traffic, I do not see that they change, in the slight- 
est degree, the pre-existing right claimed by Great Britain to arrest 
and search our vessels. That claim, as advanced both by Lord 
Palmerston and Lord Aberdeen, rested on the assumption that the 
treaties between England and other European powers upon this 
subject, could not be executed without its exercise, and that the 
happy concurrence of these powers not only justified this exercise, 
but rendered it indispensable. By the recent treaty, we are to 
keep a squadron upon the coast of Africa. We have kept one 
there for years, during the whole term, indeed, of these efforts to 
put a stop to this most iniquitous commerce. The effect of the 
treaty is, therefore, to render it obligatory upon us by a conven- 
tion to do what we have long done voluntarily ; to place our mu- 
nicipal laws, in some measure, beyond the reach of Congress; and 
to increase the strength of the squadron employed on this duty. 
But if a British cruiser meet a vesbcl bearing the American flag, 
where there is no American ship of war to examine her, it is obvi- 
ous, that it is quite as indispensable and justifiable, that the cruiser 
should search this vessel to ascertain her nationality, since the 
conclusion of the treaty as it was before. The mutual rights of the 
parties are in this respect wholly untouched ; their pretensions ex- 
ist in full force ; and what they could do prior to this arrangement 
they may now do ; for though they have respectively sanctioned 
the employment of a force to give effect "to the laws, rights, and 
obliorations of the two countries," yet they have not prohibited the 
use of any other measure which either party may be disposed to 
It is unnecessary to push these considerations further ; and in 
carrying them thus far, I have found the task an unpleasant one. 
Nothing but justice to myself could have induced me to do it. I 



176 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

could not clearly explain my position here, without this recapitula- 
tion. My protest of 13th February distinctly asserted that the 
United States would resist the pretensions of England to search 
our vessels. I avowed, at the same time, that this was but my per- 
sonal declaration, liable to be confirmed or disavowed by my go- 
vernment. I now find a treaty has been concluded between Great 
Britain and the United States, winch provides for the co-operation 
of the latter in efforts to abolish the slave trade, but which contains 
no renunciation by the former of the extraordinary pretension, re- 
sulting, as she said, from the exigencies of these very efforts, and 
which pretension I felt it my duty to denounce to the French go- 
vernment. In all this, I presume to offer no further judgment than 
as I am personally affected by the course of the proceedings ; and I 
feel they have placed me in a false position, whence I cannot escape 
but by returning home with the least possible delay. I trust, there- 
fore, that the President will have felt no hesitation in granting me 
the permission which I asked for. 

T am, sir, very respectfully, vour obedient servant, 

LEW. CASS. 
Hon D.VNiEL Webster, 

Secretary of State, Washington. 

New- York, December 11th, 1843. 

Sir : Upon my arrival here yesterday, the duplicate of your let- 
ter of November 11th was delivered to me. 1 embrace the first 
moment in my power to acknowledge its receipt. 

I am too well aware of what is due from me to the government 
to renew, or unnecessarily to prolong, the discussion of the sub- 
ject contained in my letter of October 3d. In submitting to you 
the views I entertained, I fulfilled a duty which, in my opinion, 
circumstances imposed upon me. But I should consider myself 
obnoxious to the censure of improper interference, with which you 
have not sparingly reproached me, but from which I trust I shall 
satisfy you I am free, did I seek to make my correspondence with 
the department the vehicle for obtruding my sentiments upon the 
government. Still I am anxious not to be misunderstood, and 
more especially since you give me to understand that the commu- 
nications which have passed between us upon this subject are to 
be published, and thus submitted to the great tribunal of public 
opinion, which will be called upon to decide respecting the course 
I have deemed it necessary to adopt, as well as the manner in which 
I have fulfilled the task. And as you have in several instances 
misapprehended my views, and adapted your reasoning to your 
constructions, rather than to my sentiments, and as I have full 
confidence in your desire to do me justice, I must beg leave briefly 
to lay before you such considerations connected with my letter, 
and your comments upon it, as are essential to a correct judgment 
between us. 

And, first, with respect to the procedure on my part. 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 177 

You object to iny whole course of action in this matter, because 
it appears to you to be "intended as a sort of protest or remon- 
strance against a transaction of the government " (Se-c. 

I have been very unhappy in the mode m which 1 have expressed 
myself, if 1 am justly liable to this charge. My letter is not a pro- 
test or remonstrance. It is a simple answer to a dispatch which 
I had the honor to receive from you. In your letter of August 29th, 
you commnnicated to me the views of the President in relation to 
the treaty then recently concluded with England; and you also au- 
thorized me to make known these views to the French govern- 
ment. This I did, both in conversation and in writing. Here was 
a dispatch requiring my action, and which received it in good faith. 
But i did not coincide with you in opinion respecting an impor- 
tant bearing of this treaty. I thought it left us in a worse position 
than it found us ; and so thinking, I deemed it ray right, and felt 
it my duty, to lay before you the impression which the whole mat- 
ter had left upon my mind. I did so, and the result is before you. 
Under these circumstances, was I guilty of indiscretion, or of an 
impertinent interference, still more otfensive, which, it seems to 
me, from the tone of your letter, is the construction you put upon 
my action ? 

This question will perhaps be best answered by another. Is it 
the duty of a diplomatic agent to receive all the -communications 
of his government, and to carry into effect their instructions, sub 
sikntlo, whatever may be his own sentiments in relation to them ? 
Or, is he not bound, as a faithful representative, to commui.t cate 
freely but respectfully his own views, that these may be considered 
and receive their due weight in that particular case, or in other 
circumstances involving similar considerations? It seems to me 
that the bare renunciation of the principle is all that is necessary 
for my justification. I am speaking now of the propriety of my 
action, not of the manner in which it was performed. I may have' 
executed the task well or ill ; I may have introduced topics unad- 
visedly," and urged them indiscreetly. All this I leave without re- 
mark, I am only endeavoring here to free myself from the seri- 
ous charge which you bring against me. If 1 have misapprehen- 
ded the duties of an American diplomatic agent upon this subject, 
I am well satisfied to have withdrawn, by a timely resignation, from 
a position in which my own self-respect would not permit me to 
remain. And I may express the conviction that there is no govern- 
ment, certainly none this side of Constantinople, which would not 
encourage, rather than rebuke, the free expression of the views of 
their representatives in foreign countries. But, independently of 
this general objection to all action on my part, you present me with 
another, perhaps still more formidable, but which is applicable only 
to the circumstances of this case. Without repeating in full the 
view you urge upon this part of the subject, I shall condense the 
objection into the proposition that the expression of my sentiments 
to the government upon this occasion might induce England here- 



178 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

after "to rely upon my authority for a construction favorable to her 
own pretensions, and inconsistent with the interest and honor of 
the United States." 

In the first place, I would remark that I have written for my own 
government, and not for that of England. The publication of my 
letter which is to produce this result is to be the act of the govern- 
ment, and not my act. But if the President should think that the 
slightest injury to the public interest would ensue from the disclo- 
sure of my views, the letter may be buried in the archives of the 
department, and thus forgotten and rendered harmless. 

But even were immediate publicity to be given to it, I know my 
own insignificance too well to believe it would produce the slightest 
influence upon the pretensions or the course of England. The 
English public, and especially the statesmen, are too sagacious to 
need the suggestions of any foreigner, and too pertmacious 
in the assertion of their claims to seek his authority for their 
support. When England, in her progress to that supremacy 
upon the ocean, which has been the steady object of her ambition 
for centuries, and will continue to be so, abandons a single preten- 
sion, after she has once advanced it, then there may be reason to 
believe she has adopted a' system of moderation, which may be 
strengthened or weakened, as the opinion of others is favorable or 
unfavorable to her. There is no evidence that that time is near. 
But were it otherwise, does it follow that in all discussions between 
nations it is the duty of every man to believe his own government 
has attained every object which the interest or honor of the coun- 
try requires, or not believing it, to remain silent, and to refrain 
from all representations, either to the government itself, or to the 
public, with a view to the ultimate correction of the error, and to 
the relief of his country from a false position ? I must confess I 
do not carry my patriotic devotion thus far. I agree, that when 
nations have appealed from argument to force, and when a war is 
raging, it is the duty of every citizen to put all other considera- 
tions behind him, and. avoiding profitless and party discussions up- 
on the past, to join with head, heart and hand, to repel the com- 
mon foe. At such a time, I would not speak words of censure 
even to my countrymen, lest I should be overheard by the enemy. 
And that this is not with me a barren doctrine, I trust I have given 
sufficient evidence in perilous times. But I was not prepared for 
that excess of patriotic zeal (pardon me the expression, for such it 
appears to me) which would carry this reserve into all the actions 
of the government, as well in peace as in war. I believe that in 
our recent treaty w'ith England, sufficient precaution was not taken 
to guard against her claim to search our ships. This belief 1 en- 
tertain in common with many other citizens, in office and out of 
office ; and I, as well as they, have expressed it. It has been de- 
clared in the Senate, in the public journals, in every district of our 
country. And I cannot feel that this avowal of our sentiments, in 
whatever form it is made, whether official or unofficial, justly sub- 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. . 179 

jects US to the charge of taking a course which may hereafter ena- 
ble other governments to "set up new pretensions." 

Permit me now to advert to the serious charge you have made 
against me, of venturing upon a statement, which is a tissue of 
mistakes. This statement you quote, and it is that part of my let- 
ter in which, after showing that, to a certain point of time, our 
national honor had been preserved inviolate, 1 proceed to show 
that the subsequent course of events had not been equally fortu- 
nate. I remark, that England never urged the United States to 
enter into a conventional arrangement by which the joint action of 
the two countries in the suppression of the slave trade might be 
secured. You pronounce this statement a mistake, and assert that 
the proposition came from our government. 

That the particular mode, in which the government should act 
in concert, is finally arranged in the treaty, was suggested by 
yourself, I never doubted. And, if this is the construction I am 
to give to your denial of my correctness, there is no difhculty upon 
the subject. The question between us is untouched. All I said 
wa^, that England continued to prosecute the matter, that she pre- 
sented it for negotiation, and that we, therefore, consented to its 
introduction. And if Lord Ashburton did not come out with in- 
structions from his government to endeavor to effect some arrange- 
ment upon this subject, the world has strangely misunderstood one 
of the great objects of his mission ; and I have misunderstood that 
paragraph in your first note, where you say that Lord Ashburton 
comes with full powers to negotiate and settle all matters in dis- 
cussion between England and the United States. But the very 
fact of his coming here, and of his acceding to any stipulations 
respecting the slave trade, is conclusive proof, that his government 
were desirous to obtain the co-operation of the United States. I 
had supposed our government would scarcely take the initiative in 
this matter, and urge it upon that of Great Britain, either in Wash- 
ington or in London. If it did so, 1 can only express my regret, 
and confess that I have been led inadvertently into an error. 

You then proceed to remark, in continuation of this tissue of 
mistakes, that, in entering into this arrangement, the United States 
did not depart from the principle of avoiding European combina- 
tions upon a subject not American, because the abolition of the 
slave trade is equally an American and European subject. This 
may be so ; I may be wrong in the application of the principle. 
But such an erroneous conclusion scarcely justifies the epithet of 
an adventurous statement, one of a tissue of mistakes. But, apart 
from this, I still think that combinations of this kind are among 
the "entangling alliances," against which the great statesman, 
whose expositton of our constitution will go down to posterity with 
the instrument itself, warned his countrymen. And the perpe- 
tually recurring difficulties which are presenting themselves in the 
execution of the conventions between France and England upon 
this subject should be a caution to nations against the introduction 



180 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

of new maritime principles, whose operations and results it is diffi- 
cult to foresee. 

But is the suppression of the African slave trade one of those 
American objects, in the attainment of which we ought to seek the 
co-operation of other nations, and regulate our own duties and 
theirs by treaty stipulations ? I do not think so. In the first place, 
the principle would necessarily lead us to form alliances with every 
maritime nation. It is not England alone whose flag rides over 
the seas. Other countries must cooperate, if any co-operation is 
necessary. And if we have made propositions to England to join 
lis in this effort, I do not see why we stop there and deprive our- 
selves of the aid which the action of other nations would afford. 
I doubt if the people of this country are prepared for such exten- 
sive combinations. 

But again, while fully agreeing with you in all the odium you 
cast upon that infamous traffic, it appears to me that any object 
interesting to humanity, and in which nations may with propriety 
engage, has the same claim, if not in degree, at least in principle, 
upon our interference, and calls upon us for a union with other na- 
tions to effect it. It may be easily seen, not where such a doctrine 
would conduct us, that escapes human sagacity, but toward what 
ruinous consequences it leads. 

You conclude this branch of the subject, by informing me that 
you are directed by the President to bring to my "serious consid- 
eration and reflection the propriety of such an assumed narration 
of facts, as your dispatch in this respect puts forth." 

I shall not say one word to give the President any cause of of- 
fence, and if I felt that I was justly obnoxious to this censure, I 
should submit to the rebuke in silence. He would have a right to 
make it, and it would be my duty to acquiesce. But I have that 
confidence in his innate love of justice, that he will receive my 
explanations, and judge me by my words, and not by unauthorized 
constructions. 

Now, in all that I have said in the paragraph to which you al- 
lude, and which you have so strongly qualified, you have pointed 
out but one fact, as erroneous, and that is the assertion, that the 
introduction of the subject of the slave trade into the treaty was 
due to the application of England. And whether even this was an 
error depends upon the construction to be given to your explana- 
tion. All else, I repeat it, all else, to the very least idea, is matter 
of inference. It is my deduction from the circumstances of the 
case. I may be right or wrong, logically, in the conclusions I 
have reached ; but certainly I am not morally responsible for their 
correctness, as I should be if I asserted merely naked facts. It is, 
therefore, with not a little astonishment I have read and re-read 
what I wrote, and the commentary you have been pleased to make 
upon it. It is neither necessary nor proper that I should renew 
the general subject of my letter, and therefore I do not feel it my 
duty to trouble you with any remarks respecting the views you 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 181 

have presented me of the pretensions of the British government to 
search our ships. But when you proceed to array me against my- 
self, I must claim the right to vindicate my own consistency. You 
quote me, and quote me correctly, as saying, that, up to the deli- 
very of the annual message of 1841, our national dignity was un- 
compromitted. You then ask what has since occurred to compro- 
mit this dignity, and you add emphatically that I shall myself be 
the judge of this, because in a subsequent part of my dispatch I 
say the mutual rights of the parties are wholly unchanged. And 
you ask, if they are unchanged, what ground there is on which to 
found a complaint against the treaty. I think that a very brief re- 
trospect will be the best answer I can give to this question, and 
that it will redeem me from the implied charge of inconsistency. 

I never said nor intimated in my dispatch to you, nor in any 
manner whatever, that our government had conceded to that of 
England the right to search our ships. That idea, however, per- 
vades your letter, and is very apparent in that part of it which 
brings to my observation the possible effect of my views upon the 
English government. But in this you do me, though I am sure 
unintentionally, great injustice. I repeatedly state, that the recent 
treaty leaves the rights of the parties as it found them. My diffi- 
culty is not that we have made a positive concession, but that we 
have acted unadvisedly in not making the abandonment of this 
pretension a previous condition to any conventional arrangement 
upon the general subject. I had supposed, till I read your letter, 
that this view was too distinctly expressed in my dispatch to admit 
of any misconstruction. I will condense into a small space what 
I deem it necessary to say in defence of my consistency. 

England claimed the right, in order as she said, to carry into 
effect certain treaties she had formed for the suppression of the 
slave trade, to board and search our vessels upon the high seas, 
wherever she might find them. Our government, with energy and 
promptness, repelled this pretension. Shortly after, a special Bri- 
tish ambassador arrived in our country, having powers to treat up- 
on this matter of the slave trade. The negotiation terminated by 
an arrangement which secures the co-operation of the United 
States in the efforts that England is making upon this subject. But 
not a word is said upon the serious claim that subjects to the naval 
inquisition of a commercial rival our ships, which the enterprise 
of our merchants is sending to every part of the globe. And yet 
this claim arises out of the very subject matter embraced in this 
treaty. We negotiate with England for the suppression of the 
slave trade, at the very moment her statesmen are telling us in no 
measured terms, that to suppress it she will violate our flag, and 
that she will never give up this pretension. Now here it appears 
to me the government should have stopped. The English negotia- 
tor should have been told, "We abhor as much as you do the traffic 
in human beings, and we will do all that our peculiar institutions 
permit to put an end to it. But we will not suffer this matter to 



182 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

be made the pretext for wounding our honor and violating our 
rights. We will not take a single step till you renounce this claim. 
We have denounced it already, and if we should negotiate upon 
the subject matter without settling this preliminary question, it may 
seem like an abandonment of the ground we have taken, or an in- 
difference to the consequences." 

Had this course been pursued, the sincerity of the British go- 
vernment would have undergone a practical test, from which there 
would have been no escape. It would not have been necessary to 
quote the last dispatch of Lord Aberdeen to show what he meant 
in another, or Lord Palmerston in the first. If such a proposition 
had been made and accepted, our honor would have been vindica- 
ted, our rights secured, and a bright example of sincerity and mo- 
deration would have been given to the world by a great nation. 
If it had been rejected, that would have proved that our co-opera- 
tion in the suppression of the slave trade was a question of minor 
importance, to be sacrificed to the preservation of a pretension in- 
tended to introduce an entire change in the maritime police of the 
world. 

Why this very obvious course was not adopted, I am utterly at 
a loss to conjecture ; and that it was not, is precisely the objection 
to which the whole arrangement is liable. Instead of the high 
ground we should then have occupied, we now find ourselves seri- 
ously discussing the question, whether or not England will enforce 
this claim. That she will do so when her interest requires it, I 
have no more doubt than I have that she has already given us abun- 
dant proof that the received code of public law is but a feeble bar- 
rier when it stands in the way of power and ambition. Lord Pal- 
merston and Lord Aberdeen both tell us she will. 

You refer to that part of my letter in which I observe that the 
effect of the new stipulation is to place our municipal laws in some 
measure beyond the reach of Congress, and remark that such is 
often the effect of commercial treaties. It is so, and we can only 
expect to obtain commercial advantages by stipulations for corres- 
ponding advantages, which, while they endure, are beyond the 
reach of ordinary legislation. This is matter of necessity. But 
this necessity does not exist in the punishment of crimes. We 
are able to enforce our own laws; and I do not see that the power 
to enforce those of England gives us any just compensation for 
permitting her to interfere in our criminal code, whether the of- 
fence is committed upon the land or upon the water. It seems to 
me a principle fraught with dangerous consequences, and which a 
prudent government had better avoid. 

There is but one other topic which I consider it necessary to 
advert to, but that is an important one, and I pray your indulgence 
while I briefly allude to it. 

You speak of the ratification of the treaty by the President and 
Senate, and add that it does not appear to you that I had any ' 
grounds of complaint because their opinion was at variance with 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 183 

mine. I submit that this is making an issue for me which I have 
not made for myself. In no part of my letter will be found the 
slightest imputation upon the President or Senate for the ratifica- 
tion of this treaty. I could not make such an imputation for the 
plain reason that I never censured the ratification. I am under 
the impression, iff had a vote to give, I should have been found with 
the majority upon that occasion. This, however, would have been 
upon the condition that some declaration should be annexed to the 
act cf ratification denouncing the pretension to search our ships. 
I would then have sent the instrument to the British government, 
and placed upon them the responsibility of its final rejection or 
ratification ; and I am sure we should have had the opinion of the 
world with us under such circumstances. 

The rejection of a treaty duly negotiated, is a serious question ; 
to be avoided whenever it can be without too great a sacrifice. 
Though the national faith is not actually committed, still it is more 
or less engaged ; and there were peculiar circumstances, growing 
out of long standing difficulties, which rendered an amicable 
agreement of the various matters in dispute with England a subject 
of great national interest. But the negotiation of a treaty is a far 
different subject. Topics are omitted or introduced at the discre- 
tion of the negotiators, and they are responsible, to use the lan- 
guage of an eminent and able Senator, for " what it contains and 
what it omits.'' This treaty, in my opinion, omits a most impor- 
tant and necessary stipulation, and therefore as it s«ems to me, its 
negotiation in this particular was unfortunate for the country. 

In conclusion, I beg you to tender to the President my thanks 
for the kind appreciation he made of my services in the letter of 
recall, and to express to him my hope that, on a full consideration 
of the circumstances, he will be satisfied that if my course was not 
one he can approve, it at all events was such as to relieve me from 
the charge of an improper interference in a subject not within the 
sphere of my duties. 

I must pray you, as an act of justice, to give the same publicity 
to this letter that you may give to my letter of October 3d and to 
your answer. 

Very respectfully, sir, I have the honor to be. 

Your obedient servant, 

LEW. CASS. 

Hon. Daniel Websteh, Secretary of Stale. 

The foregoing letters were made public by a call of the Senate 
upon the President for the correspondence relating to the quintu- 
ple treaty. When Gen. Cass was at Washington, upon his return 
to this country, which was after the receipt by the Secretary of 
State of his letter of December llth 1842, he was under the im- 
pression that the controversy between himself and Mr. Webster was 
■Aerminated. He was therefore greatly surprised by the receipt at 



184 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

Detroit, of a communication from Mr. Webster, on the 7th of 
March 1843, post marked Washington, February 23rd 1843, and 
bearino- date December 20th 1842, at which last date Gen. Cass 
was at Washington, and having there received no answer, or inti- 
mation that there would be one to his letter of December 11th 
1842, he considered, and so stated that the controversy was closed. 
It seems that Mr. Webster, desiring to have the last word, pre- 
pared and published with the official correspondence, a reply to 
Gen. Cass' letter of December 11th, which was not seen by the 
General until the following March, and to which he had no oppor- 
tunity of replying prior to the authoritative call of the Senate for 
the correspondence. This somewhat singular and disingenuous 
proceeding of Mr. Webster, compelled Gen. Cass to appear again 
before the public with a letter in reply. In this letter, which is 
here given at length, the positions of Mr. Webster are examined 
and dissected ; his arguments analyzed and demonstrated to be 
untenable. The impression produced by this letter generally in the 
minds of the people, was that more care in the negotiation of the 
treaty, a more strict and energetic requirement by the Secretary 
of State of certain disavowals and acknowledgements by the En- 
glish ambassador, would have rendered the treaty more consistent 
with the position assumed and maintained by our government in 
regard to the right of search. 

LETTER FROM LEWIS CASS, 
hate American Minister at Paris, to Daniel Webster, Secretary 
of State, on the Right of Search, Dated March 7th 1843. 

Detroit, 3Turch 7th 1843. 

Sir : I have just received your letter dated December 20, 1842, 
and postmarked "Washington, February 23, 1843," which com- 
mences by stating that my letter of the 11th instant (that is, my 
letter of December 1 1th 1842) had been submitted to the President. 

I had no desire to continue the correspondence, which has aris- 
en between us. I had said all I felt called upon to say m my own 
defence, and I had determined there to leave the subject. This 
determination I expressed to you immediately before I left Wash- 
ington in January, when you intimated to me, that you should prob- 
ably answer my letter of December lith. I should not have de- 
parted from this resolution, had I not felt it due to myself, that 
the actual date of the receipt of your letter should be established. 

I have reason to suppose, that the correspondence between us, 



LIFE OP GENERAL CASS. 185 

has ere this been submitted to Congress, and that it will thus come 
before the nation. Your late letter has no doubt made part of 
these documents, and persons reading it may well suppose it was 
written the twentieth of December last, and received by me while 
I was yet at Washington. 

The error will, no doubt, be readily explained at the department, 
for I need hardly say I am sure it was unintentional. But in the 
meantime it may do me serious injury ; for while at the seat of 
government, where this correspondence was well known, I more 
than once stated that my letter of December eleventh was un- 
answered. 

It is essential, therefore, to me that it should be known, that this 
statement was true, and this can only be done by spreading the 
correction as widely as the error has been spread. 

This is my first and principle reason for writing you, and with- 
out this reason I doubt if I should have broken the silence I intend- 
ed to keep, though there are passages m your letter, that might 
well have induced me to depart from this resolution. The cor- 
respondence has already grown to an unreasonable length, and I 
am very unwilling to prolong it; but as I am compelled to write, 
from the circumstances adverted to, I shall, without further apolo- 
gy, proceed to examine some of the topics presented in your last 
letter, and also to call to your observation some very offensive re- 
marks contained in your despatch of November fourteenth, and, to 
my surprise, repeated in the recent one. Before doing this how- 
ever, I shall advert to one view presented in the November letter, 
and which the haste, with which my reply was written, prevented 
me from considering. 

Even if I had entertained a desire still further to discuss the 
questions, which have arisen between us out of the treaty of Wash- 
ington, the course which events, connected with that treaty, are 
now taking, would have rendered such a measure wholly unneces- 
sary for any purpose, I had originally in view. All 1 feared and 
foretold has come to pass. The British pretension to search our 
ships, instead of having been put to rest, has assumed a more 
threatening and imposing form, by the recent declaration of the 
British government, that they intend to enforce it. As you already 
know, the seventeenth of last September, the very day I read the 
treaty in a New York paper, I solicited my recall. I stated to you 
I felt that I could not remani abroad, honorably for myself nor 
usefully for our country ; and that I considered the omission of a 
stipulation in that treaty, which settled the African slave trade 
question, to guard against the right of search or visitation, or by 
what other name it may please the British government and country 
to express this claim to violate our flag and to board our vessels, 
as a fatal error ; considering particularly, that this pretension had 
been first put forth and justified in connexion with that trafiic. 
And so viewing the subject, I felt that the course I had taken in 
France in opposition to the ratification of the quintuple treaty, 



186 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

which was intended to engraft this principle upon the law of na- 
tions, had not been supported by the government, as I thought it 
it should have been. 

In my protest to M. Guizot, of February thirteenth, 1842, I had 
staked my diplomatic situation and character upon this support. 

Your letter of April fifth, 1842, conveyed the President's approv- 
al of my conduct, and this you consider, in your letter of Novem- 
ber fourteenth, 1842, as taking from me all further responsibility. 

You say, that " having delivered my letter to M. Guizot, and 
having read the President's approbation of that proceeding, it is 
most manifest that you could, in no degree, be responsible for what 
should be done afterwards, and done by others." You add, as a 
corollary from this proposition, that "the President, therefore, 
cannot conceive what particular or personal interest of yours, was 
affected by the subsequent negotiation here, or how the treaty, the 
result of that negotiation, should put an end to your usefulness as 
a public minister at the court of France, or in any way affect your 
official character or conduct." 

The answer to this is so obvious, that I cannot but express my 
surprise it has escaped your observation. A diplomatic agent, 
without instructions, takes a responsible step, which he thinks 
called for by the honor and the interests of his country. He states, 
that he acts without the knowledge of his government, and that, if 
unsupported, he must return home, You think that the approval 
of his course by his own government absolves him from all further 
responsibility, and that, happen w.ha,, may, his honor and usefulness 
are unimpaired. My opinion is far different. If his government 
approve his course upon paper, and abandon, in effect, the meas- 
ures he advocates, he cannot represent his country as his country 
ought to be represented abroad. And I may safely add, that no 
man, fit to be sent upon a foreign mission, would hesitate a mo- 
ment as to the course he ought to pursue. He would not entrench 
himself behind his paper approval, for, if he did, he would hear 
words of reproach respecting his government, which no man of 
honor could submit to. Jn my case you approved my proceedings, 
but, as I say and believe, you did not guard against this pretension 
of England to search our ships, wkich occasioned my interposition, 
as it should have been guarded against ; and thus, in fact, left me 
unsupported. 

It is by this process of feeling and reasoning, that I reached the 
conclusion you censure in no measured terms, and I trust you will 
now see " how the treaty, the result of that negotiation, should 
put an end to my usefulness as a public minister at the court of 
France." 

It put an end to it, because I said the American Government 
would resist the right of search. The government said the same 
thing, but unfortunately went on to make a treaty, resp ectingthe 
slave trade with England, without saying a word about this pre- 
tension, at the very time England had announced to the world that 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 187 

she would search our ships, in. order to carry into effect tlie trea- 
ties she had negotiated with other nations upon this very subject- 
matter. And now I am gravely told, that I might have remained, 
after this, the representative of my country, because my official 
conduct and character vvere not affected. 

I am not considering which of us is right in his view of the 
proper course of the government respecting this treaty. I lay that 
out of the question. I contend that, in my opinion, I was not suf- 
ficiently supported, and this being so, that I ought to have return- 
ed. You contend that my opinion has nothing to do with the mat- 
ter; that the government took upon itself the responsibility, and 
therefore, even if a treaty had afterwards been negotiated "con- 
taining provisions in the highest degree objectionable, however 
the government might be discredited," the minister was free; and 
that his "usefulness" could not be thereby affected. 

I shall not argue this point with you. It is a question of feel- 
ing, quite as much as of reasoning, and he who would remain at 
a foreign court under these circumstances, to represent a "dis- 
credited" government, has no sentiments in common with me up- 
on the subject. You state in your letter, dated December 20, that 
a declaration guarding against this claim to search our vessels, 
would have been " no more suitable to this treaty than a declara- 
tion against the right of sacking our towns in time of peace, or 
any other outrage." You enlarge upon this proposition, and, in 
fact, a considerable portion of your letter is occupied with the de- 
fence of the omission of such a declaration. You suppose I had 
advanced the idea "that somethincr should have been offered to 
England as a benefit, but coupled with such a declaration or con- 
dition as that, if she received the boon, it would have been a re- 
cognition by her of a claim, which we make as a matter of right." 
You add, that the President, satisfied of the justice of the x\me- 
rican doctrine, has " avoided to change this ground, and to place 
the just right of the country upon the assent, express or implied, 
of any power whatever." "The government thought no skilfully 
extorted promises necessary in any such cases," &:.c. All this, 
and much more in your letter upon this topic, appear to me very 
extraordinary. I never made a suggestion of the nature you sup- 
pose. I never, for a moment, presumed the government would 
hold out to England a consideration for the disavowal of this pre- 
tension. What I really said, I will here repeat from my letter to 
you of February 15, 1842. But, before quoting the paragraph, I 
will make a quotation from what immediately precedes, to show 
that I had a correct notion of what would be the course of Eng- 
land. The holy Chinese war is ended, and the British army has 
withdrawn to the east of the Indies. The pattei-n republic, as we 
are contemptuously called, can now be attended to. 

After showing that this pretension to search our ships is a claim 
to which this country can never submit, I remark: "The next 
question is, will England yield?" "It is our safer course to be- 



188 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

lieve she will not, and, looking to her line of policy, that, too, is 
our natural course. Wherever she has planted a foot, whether on 
marsh, moor, or mountain, under the polar circles as under the 
tropics — I will not say never; that word does not belong to the 
deeds of man — but rarely has she withdrawn it. Whenever she 
has asserted a pretension, she has adhered to it, through good re- 
port and through evil report, in prosperity and in adversity, with 
an iron will and a firm hand, of which the history of the world af- 
fords no equal example since the proudest days of the Roman em- 
pire," &c. ; " and the time has come when we must look her de- 
signs in the face, and determine to resist or to yield. War is a 
great evil, but there are greater evils than war, and among these 
is national degradation. This we have never yet experienced, and 
I trust we never shall." 

" If Lord Ashburton goes out with such modified propositions 
upon the various questions now pending between the two govern- 
ments as you can honorably accept, the result will be a subject of 
lasting gratification to our country. And more particularly if, as 
I trust, before entering into any discussions, he is prepared to give 
such explanations as will show, that we have misunderstood the 
intentions of the British government respecting this claim of a 
right to change the law of nations, in order to accommodate it to 
their treaty stipulations and its practical consequences — a claim 
to enter and search our vessels at all times and in all places. This 
preliminary proceeding would be worthy of the gravity of the cir- 
cumstances, and equally honorable to both governments." 

Whether, in all I said above respecting the tenacity of England 
in the prosecution of her claims, new or old, I was justified by the 
characteristic traits of her history, let me be judged by the late em- 
phatic declaration of the chief of the British cabinet, made to the 
House of Commons, and through them to the world ; and which, 
we are significantly told, was cheered by both sides of the House ; 
and whether I am right in saying that I never thought of propo- 
sing that a " benefit" should be offered to England tor the relin- 
quishment of this pretension, as you allege, let me be judged by 
my own words. 

My letter of December 11th, is in accordance with these views. 
After stating the nature of this claim, I continue : " Now here, it 
appears to me. the government should have stopped. The En- 
glish negotiator should have been told ; We abhor as much as you 
do this traffic in human beings, and we will do all our peculiar in- 
stitutions permit, to put an end to it. But we will not suffer this 
matter to be made the pretext for wounding our honor and viola- 
ting our rights. We will not take a single step, till you have re- 
nounced this claim. We have already denounced it ; and if we 
should negotiate upon this subject matter, without settling this pre- 
liminary question, it would seem like an abandonment of the 
ground we have taken, or an indifference to the consequences." 

This last paragraph touches, in my opinion, the true issue be- 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 189 

tween us of this part of the controversy. You say that the inser- 
tion of a declaration against the right of search " would have been 
no more suitable to this treaty, than a declaration against the right 
of sacking our towns in time of peace," &c., di-c. ; and hence 
draw the conclusion that its omission was both honorable and po- 
litic. As this sin of omission is the principal charge I make against 
this treaty, and as it is the one you labor most earnestly to reason 
away, I must be permitted again briefly to refer to it. 

The British government, in order, as they said, to execute cer- 
tain treaties they had formed for the suppression of the slave trade 
claimed the right to board and examine American ships. The 
American government denied this pretension, and thus stood the 
parties before the world. Then comes,..a British negotiator to our 
shores, to settle the subjects in difference between the two coun- 
tries. Two of these are settled. One is this slave-trade question ; 
the very question which gave rise to the monstrous pretension that 
is preparing for us so much trouble. And this is distinctly admit- 
ted in the President's message, which states that, " after (he bound- 
ary, the question which seems to threaten the greatest embarrass- 
ment was that connected with the African slave trade." 

You negotiated upon the subject-matter, knowing the construc- 
tion the British government had given to its other slave treaties, 
and knowing, what is clear in itself, as stated in my letter of Oc- 
tober 3d, 1842, and what Sir Robert Peel has now fully confirmed, 
that " if a British cruiser meet a vessel bearing the American flag, 
where there is no American ship to examine her, it is obvious that 
it is quite as indispensable and justifiable that the cruiser should 
search this vessel to ascertain her nationality, since the conclusion 
of the treaty, as it was before." The error, therefore, was in ne- 
gotiating upon this very subject, leaving to the other party to say 
we have concluded an arrangement respecting the slave trade with 
you, since our mutual pretensions concerning the right of search 
have been made known. You were aware that our claim arose 
out of that subject, and, as you have not guarded against it, we 
shall enforce it. 

As to the analogy between such a claim and one to sack a town 
in time of peace, it is a sufficient answer to say, that when such a 
pretension is solemnly put forth to the world by England, 1 shall 
think any government deserving the severest reprobation, which 
would go on and negotiate upon a subject-matter connected with 
the origin of such a claim, without sufficient security against it ; 
more particularly if, as in this case, the subject-matter relates to a 
question of general benevolence, urged upon us, no doubt, by the 
most philanthropic motives, but which no just principle requires us 
to intermeddle with, at the sacrifice of the first attributes of our 
independence. 

You make some remarks upon the impropriety of requiring from 
any nation a solemn renunciation of an unjust pretension, and you 
proceed to observe that the President " has not sought, but, on the 



190 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

contrary, has sedulously avoided, to change the ground, and to 
place the just rights of the country upon the assent, express or im- 
plied, of any power whatever." " The government thought no 
skillfully extorted promises necessary in any such cases." 

As to the extortion of promise, it is a question of ethics, which 
has no place here. As to the propriety of requiring a nation for- 
mally to disavow an unjust pretension before entering into a nego- 
tiation with her, or, if she will not do so, of then telling her, we 
shall stand upon our public denial of your claim, and will not ne- 
gotiate with you, it seems to me that such a course is equally hon- 
orable and politic. Is not diplomatic history full of these efforts 
to procure such disavowals, and who before ever expressed a doubt 
of the policy of these measures? Have we not, time after time, 
endeavored to induce England to stipulate, that she would not im- 
press seamen from our ships? And did you not, in the course of 
the late negotiation with Lord Ashburton, strive to procure the 
solemn abandonment of this claim? There is conclusive proof of 
this in your letter to the British minister of August 8th, 1842, 
where you say, after having conversed with him, that " the govern- 
ment of the United States does not see any utility in opening such 
negotiation, unless the British government is jn'eparcd to renounce 
the practice in alljuture xvarsJ' 

You remark, also, in the same letter, that " both before and 
and since the war, negotiations have taken place between the two 
governments, with the hope of finding some means of quieting these 
complaints" (of impressment.) You allude also to the convention 
formed for this purpose by Mr. King, in 1803, and to the " utter 
failure of many negotiations upon this subject." 

Were all these fruitless efforts, so long carried on, liable to the 
objection you raise, that any nation, calling upon another to dis- 
avow an unjust pretension, weakens its own cause, and " that no 
interpolation of a promise to respect them, (that is, our rights and 
dignity,) ingeniously woven into treaties, would be likely to afford 
such protection ?" 

Now, what becomes of the analogy you seek to establish, and 
which by a reductio ad absurdum, is intended to show that these 
conventional disavowals of contested pretensions are " skillfully ex- 
torted promises," inconsistent with oiu" dignity and interests? 
What becomes of the claim to sack our towns in time of peace, 
and of "protests," which you liken to Chinese figures painted on 
cities, to frighten away the enemy ? 

From the time of Washington to this day, almost every admin- 
istration has sought to procure from the British government a sol- 
emn relinquishment of her claim to impress our seamen, and never 
before was it discovered that the effort was unworthy and dishon- 
orable. 

And, during all the period of the long war between England and 
France, at the close of the last century and at the beginning of 
this, when the laws of nations and the rights of neutrals were 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 191 

equally contemned, how many attempts were made by our govern- 
ment to induce that of Great Britain to abandon her unjust pre- 
tensions, and to stipulate that she would no more exercise them? 
and that, too, for a " boon." Our public documents are filled with 
proofs of this. I shall refer to one or two, which even you will 
deem conclusive. 

In a letter from Mr. Madison to Messrs. Monroe and Pinkney, 
dated May 20th, 1807, our negotiators are told, '' that, " without 
a provision against impressment, substantially such as is contemp- 
lated in your original instructions, no treaty is to be concluded." 

Acjain, in a letter from Mr. Madison to Mr. Monroe, dated Jan- 
uary oth, 1804, the former remarks that " the plan of a conven- 
tion, contemplated by the President, is limited to the cases of im- 
pressment of our seamen, of blockades, of visiting and searching 
our vessels, of contraband of war, and of the trade with hostile co- 
lonies, with a few other cases, affecting our maritime rights, em- 
hracing,, however, as inducements to Great Britain to do tis justice 
therein, a provision for the surrender of deserting seamen and sol- 
diers, and for the prevention of contraband supplies to her ene- 
mies." 

Then follows the plan of a convention for these purposes. 

And this prnjet was the work of Mr. Madison, directed by Mr. 
Jefferson, and addressed to Mr. Monroe. The " rights and dig- 
nity" of the United States were as safe in their hands, as they will 
ever be in mortal hands. And even if I had recommended, as I 
have not, a " boon," or " favor," or " benefit," to be given to Eng- 
land, in consideration of her relinquishment ofthis offensive claim, 
I should not have wanted higher precedents to justify me. 

You object to the suggestion I made, that a declaration should 
have accompanied the ratification of the treaty, denying the right 
to search our ships : and you ask, apparently emphatically, if this 
had been done, and if the British "government with equal inge- 
nuity had appended an equivalent written declaration that it should 
not be considered as sacrificing any British right, how much more 
defined would have been the right of either party, or how much 
more clear the meaning and interpretation of the treaty?" 

I am very unwilling to believe you do not wish to deal sincerely 
with me in this matter, and I must, therefore, attribute the strange 
error'you have committed, in the construction of my language, to 
a hasty perusal of it. Had you read it with due care, you would 
have found that I spoke not of an ex parte declaration, but of a 
declaration mutually assented to, and which thereby would have 
become a portion of the treaty : a declaration, putting a construc- 
tion upon the instrument, which would thus have been ratified with 
a knowledge of it. After meeting your assertion, that the tenden- 
cy of my letter was to impute blame to the President and Senate 
for the ratification of the treaty, and showing that it was not the 
ratification but the negotiation I censured, I add, "I am under the 
impression, if I had had a vote to give, I should have been found 



192 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

amono' the majority upon that occasion. This, however, would 
have been upon the condition, that some declaration should be an- 
nexed to the act of ratification, denouncing the pretension to 
search our ships. I would thus have sent the instrument to the 
British government, and placed upon them the responsibility of its 
final rejection or ratification, and I am sure we should have had 
the opinion of the world with us under such circumstances." I 
need add nothing to this branch of the subject. It is clear that I 
spoke here of a conditional ratification, depending upon the assent 
to be given by the other party to the declaration concerning the 
claim of search. There would have been here no room for the 
diplomatic retort you suggest. There could have been no counter 
declaration, for then the whole arrangement would have been void. 
As I said in my letter of December 11th, "Had this course been 
pursued, the sincerity of the British government would have un- 
dergone a practical test, from which there would have been no es- ^ 
cape. It would not have been necessary to quote the last despatch 
of Lord Aberdeen to show what he meant in another, or Lord Pal- 
merston in the first. If such a proposition had been made and 
accepted, our honor would have been vindicated, our rights secu- 
red, and a bright example of sincerity and moderation would have 
been given to the world by a great nation. If it had been rejected, 
that would have proved that our co-operation in the suppression of 
the slave trade was a question of mindr importance, to be sacrificed 
to the preservation of a pretension, intended to introduce an entire 
change into the maritime police of the world." "Why this very 
obvious course was not adopted, I am utterly at a loss to conjec- 
ture, and that it was not, is precisely the objection to which the 
whole arrangement is liable. Instead of the high ground we should 
then have occupied, we find ourselves seriously discussing the 
question whether or not England will enforce this claim." 

There was a very uncourteous tone pervading your letter to me 
of November 14th, 1842 ; a kind of official loftiness, which, how- 
ever it may suit other meridians, does not belong to an American 
functionary writing to an American citizen. My answer to that 
letter was very hastily written. It was prepared, as you will per- 
ceive by the date and by your receipt of it, the very day the post- 
master of New-York handed me your communication. 

I was aware that the subject ought to occupy more lime, and 
that justice was not done to it. But you had intimated pretty dis- 
tinctly in your letter, that our correspondence was to be published, 
and I was apprehensive it might, somehow or other, find its way to 
the public before I could correct the erroneous impression, which 
your letter was calculated to produce. Under these circumstan- 
ces, my attention was drawn to the general course of reasoning 
rather than to the mode in which this was conveyed ; and, although 
there were one or two paragraphs, so plainly uncourteous, that 
they could not escape my observation, still I passed them by, hav- 
ing little taste for a war of words ; but, in your letter dated De- 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 193 

cember 20th, and received February 23d, these offensive expres- 
sions are repeated, and the same process is adopted to prove me 
guilty of misstatement, which is contained in the preceding letter. 
I met this attempt at that time without any reference to the lan- 
guage which you used. I shall meet it again J but I shall take 
leave to precede my defence by remindiiag you of the comity, 
which an American Secretar^'^of State owes to his countrymen. 
You say "the President is not a little startled, that you should make 
such totally groundless assumptions of fact, and then leave a dis- 
creditable inference to be drawn from them. He directs me not 
only to repel this inference, as it ought to be repelled, but also to 
bring to your serious consideration and reflection the propriety of 
such an assumed narrative of facts, as your despatch, in this re- 
spect, puts forth." 

"The President cannot conceive how you should have been led 
to adventure upon such a statement as this. It is but a tissue of 
mistakes." "All these statements, thus by you made, and which 
are so exceedingly erroneous," &c. 

And, in your last letter, you say that, "in attempting to escape 
from some of the- mistakes of this tissue, you have fallen into 
others," &c. 

Following your example, it would have been easy to find a retort 
for these expressions, which would want neither point nor truth. 
But my own self respect, and, still more, my respect for that great 
tribunal of public opinion, which is to judge between us, forbid 
me from imitating your course upon this occasion. I would re- 
mind you, that there is nothing in your official position, nothing in 
our relative situation, which can justify this lofty assumption of 
superiority. I doubt if a parallel can be found^in diplomatic his- 
tory since Napoleon swayed the destinies of the world. But the 
use, which you make of the President's name, in this undignified 
language, is even more to be regretted than the epithets them- 
selves. That high functionary should not be invoked, when a pri- 
vate citizen is thus assailed. Under different circumstances, such 
conduct might be imitated by the other party, and a system of 
crimination and of recrimination introduced into the correspon- 
dence of the department, equally injurious to the public interest, 
and incompatible with the public honor. Upon the present occa- 
sion, no such result will happen. I have too much respect for the 
Chief Magistracy of my country, and too much regard for the dis- 
tinguished individual who occupies that high post, to introduce his 
name unnecessarily into this discussion ; and, notwithstanding you 
have appealed to him, I shall still consider the language as yours, 
and not as his. Many others would not be as forbearing. I say 
the '-language," for it is that which I censure, I do not question 
your right, nor the right of any other person, freely to examine 
and to meet statements and arguments at discretion. But let this 
be done with the courtesy of a gentleman. 

I shall now proceed, as briefly as possible, to examine these 

13 



194 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

charges o? an afsutncd narrative of facts ; of groundless assump- 
tion, and of a tissue of mistakes, which you have once and again 
preferred against me. But first, let us see what is the grave fault 
you allege I have committed. I will state it in your own words : 

" Before examining the several objections suggested by you, it 
may be proper to take notice of what you say upon the course of the 
negotiation. In regard to this, having observed that the national 
dignity of the United States had not been compromitted down to 
4he time of the President's message, at the last session, you proceed 
to say : But England then urged the United States to enter into a 
conventional arrangement, by which we might be pledged to con- 
cur with her in measures for the suppression of the slave trade. 
Until then, we had executed our own laws in our own way. But, 
yielding to the application, and departing from our former princi- 
ple, of avoiding European combinations upon subjects not Ameri- 
can, we stipulated, in a solemn treaty, that we would carry into 
effect our own laws, and fixed the minimum force we would em- 
ploy for that purpose." 

After this quotation, you thus continue ; " The President can- 
not conceive ho v you should have, been led to adventure upon such 
a statement as this. It is but a tissue of mistakes. The United 
States yielded to no application from England ; the proposition 
for abolishing the slave trade, as if staiids in the treaty, was an 
American proposition; it originated with the executive government 
of the United States, which cheerfully assumes all its responsibili- 
ty. It stands upon its own mode of fulfilling its duties, and ac- 
complishing its objects. Nor have the United States departed, in 
this treaty, in the slightest degree from their former principles, of 
avoiding European combinations upon subjects not American ; 
]!«3canse the abolition of the African slave trade is an American 
subject as emphatically as it is an European subject, and indeed 
more so, inasmuch as the government of the United States took 
the first great step in declaring that trade unlawful, and in attempt- 
in ff its extinction. The abolition of this traffic is an object of the 
liio-hest interest to the American people and the x\merican govern- 
ment ; and you seem strangely to have overlooked the important 
fact, that nearly thirty years ago, by the treaty of Ghent, the Uni- 
ted States bound themselves, by a solemn compact with England, 
to continue ' their efforts for its entire abolition,' both parties 
pledging themselves, by that treaty, to use their best endeavors to 
accomplish so desirable an object." 

" Again, you speak of an important concession made to the re- 
newed application of England. But the treaty, let it be repeated, 
makes no concession whatever to England. It complies with no 
demand, conforms to no request. All these statements, thus by 
you made, and which are so exceedingly erroneous, seem calcula- 
ted to hold up the idea that, in this treaty, your government has 
been acting a subordinate or even a complying part." And then 
follows the grandiloquent passage I have already quoted, commenc- 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 195 

incr in such a solemn stvle, that the President was " startled" at 
all these grievous offences of mine. 

Thus stands your charge in the letter of November 1 Ith, 1842. 
It is renewed in that of December 20th. In my answer to the first 
I vindicated myself, and I thought successfully, against your com- 
plaint, and never supposed it would again rise up in judgment 
against me. I told you that you had qualified as a tissue of mis- 
takes a paragraph which contained one statement, as a fact, to 
wit : that England had urged our government to enter into a trea- 
ty stipulation for putting an end to the slave trade, to which we 
yielded. I told you still further, why I, as well as the world, sup- 
posed that the application for this stipulation came from England. 
She had pursued this object steadily for forty years, and she had 
sent out a special minister charged to negotiate upon that as well 
as upon othei*subjects. We had no interest to form a slave trade 
convention. You refer to the treaty of Ghent as creating obliga- 
tions upon this matter, but that treaty makes not the slightest al- 
lusion to any further arrangements, and has no more connexion 
with the treaty of Washington, than with the convention respect- 
ing armed vessels upon the lakes. It was complete in itself, and 
neither required nor looked to any other stipulations between the 
parties. And we had executed it in good faith. 

For these reasons, I supposed that Lord Ashburton came out to 
propose to us to enter into another treaty upon this subject ; and I 
thus stated it as an historical fact. In my answer, 1 further called 
to your observation that the rest of the paragraph was matter of 
inference or deduction, not admitting qualifications applicable, not 
to inferences, but to assertions. As I shall, by and by, have oc- 
casion to refer again to this branch of the subject, I shall not pur- 
sue it any further at present. 

In your last letter you reiterate, in substance, what you had previ- 
ously said, and add, that " it would appear from h\\ this, that that 
which in your first letter appeared as a direct statement of fact, 
of which you would naturally be presumed to have had knowledge, 
sinks at last into inference and conjecture."' Now, here is a very 
obvious error, which, by the slightest attention to what I said, 
would have been avoided ; but I will not qualify the mistake as a 
tissue of anything. I did not say that the statement of facts, to 
which you refer, was all matter of inference. I said expressly, 
that the statement respecting the desire of England, that we should 
enter into this negotiation was put forward as a well-known fact, 
but that " all else — I repeat it, all else — to the very least idea, is 
matter of inference." Let the correctness of this assertion be judg- 
ed by a reference'to the paragraph. You continue : " But in at- 
tempting to escape from some of the mistakes of this tissue, you 
have fallen into others." 

You then refer to my statement, that England continued to pro- 
secute the matter, and that we consented to its introduction. This, 
however, it is very clear, is but the same idea before suggested 



196 LIFE OF .GENERAL CASS. 

and combatted in your first letter. You say the English " minis- 
ter no more presented the subject for negotiation than the govern- 
ment of the United States presented it." 

You then ask me to '' review my series of assertions on this sub- 
ject, and see whether they can possibly be regarded, merely as a 
statement of your own inferences." 

It would be but a waste of time to repeat what I ha\:e already 
said, that I assumed as an historical fact, believed by everybody, 
that Lord Ashburton came to urge the negotiation of this treaty, 
and that upon this point we yielded to the desire of England. 
When you say this is one of the " inferences" to which I refer, 
you furnish me with language and statements which are not my own. 

But, after all, v/hy this strange pertinacity in dwelling upon this 
point f Why this studied and repeated attempt to prove me 
guilty of a tissue of mistakes, because I believed Lorcji Ashburton 
submitted propositions upon this question of the slave trade, and 
that our government acceded to them ? I have already shown, 
that this opinion was a natural one, and held in common with the 
country, and I trust I shall show this still more clearly. But even 
if not so, how does this change the state of thmgs ? Does it prove 
that the negotiator was more sagacious, or the treaty more useful 
and honorable ! The result is the same, and the inquiry is there- 
fore confined to the process. You will please to recollect I object- 
ed that we had yielded to the application of England, and made a 
treaty upon this subject, without guarding against a dishonorable 
pretension she had advanced respecting it. 

This is the whole charge, which has provoked all this " start- 
ling" reproof. To this you answer, as though this answer took 
away all censure, that the " British minister no more presented the 
subject for negotiation than the government of the United States 
presented it ;'' that is, in other words that the matter was jointhj 
conducted and terminated And is it possible you can believe that 
this circumstance takes away the grave responsibility of an impro- 
vident arrangement, which left us worse than it found us ; and, 
what is sincerely to be deplored by every American, which led the 
President of the United States, in his annual message to Congress-- 
a document read by the world— to put a construction upon this 
instrument, which the English prime minister has contradicted in 
the most solemn manner, and in no measured terms? The Pre- 
sident, in his message of 1841, says that this claim of " visit and 
inquiry" was "regarded as the right of search, presented only in 
a new form, and expressed in different words," and he adds that 
he had denounced it as inadmissible by the United States. He 
then proceeds to speak of the recent treaty, and thus continues : 
" From this it will be seen that the ground assumed in the mes- 
sage (to wit, that the United States would never submit to this 
new-fangled claim of ' visit and inquiry') has been fully maintain- 
ed, at the same time, that the stipulations of the treaty of Ghent 
are to be carried out in good faith by the two countries, and that 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 



197 



all pretence is removed for interference with our commerce for any 
purpose hy a foreign government." 

This construction the English government deny, and boldly 
avow their adherence to the claim to board and examine our ves- 
sels. Now, where can you find one word in the treaty, which but 
intimates that this question respecting " visitation" has been even 
taken up or touched ? Unfortunately, no such word is there ; nor 
is there any principle of sound construction, which can supply its 
place. What I said to you in my letter of October 3d, upon this 
topic may, perhaps, produce more impression now than it did then. 
It has been marvellously confirmed. I remarked : " In carefully 
looking at the 7th and 8th articles of the treaty providing for the 
suppression of this traffic, I do not see that they change in the 
slightest degree the pre-existing rights claimed by Great Britain 
to search our ships. That claim, as advanced both by Lord Pal- 
raerston and Lord Aberdeen, rests on the assumption that the trea- 
ties between England and other European powers upon this sub- 
ject could not be executed without its exercise, and that the hap- 
py concurrence of these powers not only justified, but rendered it 
indispensahk. By the recent treaty we are to keep a squadron 
on the coast of Africa. We have kept one there for years ; during 
the whole time, indeed, of these efforts to put a stop to this most 
iniquitous commerce. The effect of the treaty, therefore, is to ren- 
der it obligatory upon us, by a convention, to do what we have 
long done voluntarily — to place our municipal laws in some mea- 
sure beyond the reach of Congress, and to increase the strength 
of the squadron employed on this duty." 

" But if a British cruiser meet a vessel bearing the American 
•flag where there is no American ship of war to examine her, it is 
obvious that it is quite as indispensable and justifiable, that the 
cruiser should search this vessel to ascertain her nationality, since 
the conclusion of this treaty as it was before. The mutual rights 
oCthe parties are in this respect wholly untouched : their preten- 
sions exist in full force, and what they could do prior to this ar- 
rangement they may do now ; for though they have respectively 
sanctioned the employment of a force to give effect ' to the laws, 
rights, and obligations of the two countries," yet they have not pro- 
hibited the use of any other measures, which either party may be 
■ disposed to adopt." 

What was opinion, when I wrote, has now become fact. 
In all this I beg not to be misunderstood. I do not wish again 
to subject myself to the charge you made against me of favoring 
the pretensions of England. That is one of the last offences I de- 
sire to commit, or, if 1 know myself, that I am likely to commit. 
I think the pretension she advances to search our vessels, and to 
.call this search a " visitation," is one of the most injurious and 
unjustifiable claims of modern days. I would meet the first exer- 
cise of it by war. It leads directly to impressment, and subjects 
• our whole commercial marine to the mercy of a jealous rival. It 



198 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

is but another step in her march towards universal domination I 
do not believe our government have acknowledged this claim, or 
ever thought of acknowledging it. I believe the President and all 
his cabinet are too honorable and too patriotic ever to harbor a 
thought of their surrendering one of our proudest national rights. 
But, as I said before, it is an act of omission and not of commis- 
sion I censure. It is because a treaty has been made embracing 
the slave trade, and because no security is found there against the 
exercise of this pretension, which threatened, as the President said 
in his message, the greatest embarrassment, and was " connected 
with the African slave trade." 

But to return to your charge of my want of good faith in this 
" tissue of mistakes." In any discussion concerning the origin 
and nature of the propositions, which led to the 7th and 8th arti- 
cles of the treaty of Washington respecting the slave trade, you 
have greatly the advantage over any antagonist. It is a remarka- 
ble fact, and without precedent, probably, in modern diplomacy, 
that not one written word is to be found in the documents relating 
to this treaty, which passed between the negotiators, and which 
led to this new and important stipulation. I presume these func- 
tionaries met often, and conversed upon the various topics pend- 
ing between them, and then some protocol of their meeting, or 
some correspondence, was prepared, embodying their views. One 
would suppose that this course was necessary, as well for them- 
selves, as for the information of their governments, and, I may 
add, in the case of the American negotiator, for the information 
of the people — equally his sovereign and the sovereign of the 
government he represented — was all this omitted, or has it been 
suppressed? As was said by a senator from Pennsylvania, in the 
debate upon the ratification of the treaty, and said with as much 
beauty, " The tracks of the negotiators were upon sand^ and the 
returning tide has effaced them forever." 

In the question relating to impressment there is no such reserve. 
We have a letter on that vital subject from each party ; and yet 
this correspondence led to nothing ; and when it was prepared,, it 
would lead to nothing. Why it is there, it passes my comprehen- 
sion to judge. When, in conversation with the British negotiator, 
you found he was not prepared to make any concession upon this 
subject, why introduce it at all. and give his government another 
opportunity to assert its pretension, and to avow its determination 
to enforce it ? What was gained by this ? You could hardly ex- 
pect to shed new light upon a question discussed by Jefferson and 
Madison; and you could hardly expect, that any declaration of re- 
sistance to the practice could be more emphatic, than the resist- 
ance of the last war, and the numerous remonstrances against the 
doctrine with which our diplomatic history abounds. An impor- 
tant subject is introduced into the treaty without any discussion ; 
and another, still more important, is discussed without introduc- 
tion, and with the full knowledge that it would not be introduced. 



LIFE OE GENERAL CASS. 



199 



Allow me again to spread before you the paragraph you quote, 
and which contiins the " tissue of mistakes," which occupies so 
conspicuous a pl?ce in your letter : 

" But England then urged the United States to enter into a con- 
ventional arrangement, by which we might be pledged to concur 
with her in the measures for the suppression of the slave trade. 
Till then we had executed our own laws in our own way ; but, 
yielding to this application, and departing from our former prin- 
ciple of avoiding European combinations upon subjects not Amer- 
ican, we stipulated in a solemn treaty that we would carry into 
effect our own laws, and fixed the minimum force we would em- 
ploy for that purpose." 

This is the whole charge, as you make it. This is the paragraph 
in reference to which you say "the President cannot conceive how 
you should have been led to adventure upon such a statement as 
this." Now let us analyze this matter, and see if it is as "start- 
ling" as you suppose. How many facts are here stated 1 and, of 
these, how many are denied or doubted ? 

First. England urged us to make a treaty for the suppression of 
the slave trade. 

Second. We yielded to this application. 

Third. Before then, we had executed our own laws in our own 
way. 

Fourth. We departed thereby from an old principle of avoiding 
European combinations upon subjects not American. 

Fifth. We stipulated we would carry into effect our owiVlaws. 

Sixth. We fixed the minimum force we would employ for that 
purpose. 

Here is the whole indictment. Now for the defence. 

I suppose I may pass over the second fact. It depends entirely 
upon the first, and is, in truth, a part of it. If England urged this 
treaty upon us, and we thereupon assented to the negotiation of 
it, we of course yielded to the application. I suppose I may pass 
over the third fact : no one will dispute its truth. Or, if it is de- 
nied, let it be shown when, before now, our laws were enforced by 
virtue of treaty stipulations. I suppose I may pass over the fourth. 
It is matter of opinion, as I said in my former letter — of inference. 
No one can place it in that category of facts, for the truth of which 
he who advances them is morally responsible. You say that the 
suppression of the slave trade is interesting to the United States; 
and that therefore we have not departed, in the formation of the 
treaty, from the wholesome maxim of non-combination. I say it 
is interesting, also, but that our duties can be fully performed with- 
out any European combination ; and that such a mutual arrange- 
ment is injurious, and violates one of the articles of our political 
faith : and, in proof of the danger of these arrangements, I refer to 
the "perpetually recurring difficulties, which are presenting them 
selves in the execution of the conventions between France and 
England upon this subject." I suppose I may pass ever the fifth 



200 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

fact, for no one can question that, by the treaty, we do stipulate to 
carry into effect our own laws. The eighth article expressly de- 
clares that the object is to "enforce the laws," &c., of each of the 
two countries. I suppose, also, I may pass over the sixth fact, for 
the same eighth article provides that the squadron to be employed 
in suppressing the slave trade shall "carry in all not less than 
eighty guns." Here is the minimum. We thus removed five of 
these condemned facts from the act of accusation. There remains 
one to support the charge you have made, and to justify the un- 
qualified language you have employed. And what is this solitary 
proof of my bad faith? Here it is. I said that England had 
urged our government to enter into stipulations for suppressing 
the slave trade, to which we had yielded. I am "startled" my- 
self at the importance you attach to my views of this matter, and 
to the gravity of the proof these have led to. I have already re- 
marked, that all the world supposed Lord Ashburton came here 
M^ith propositions upon this, as well as upon some other subjects, 
in dispute between the two governments ; and, at the moment I 
am writing, I find in the papers an extract of a letter from Mr. 
Everett to you, presented to the House of Representatives by Mr. 
Gushing, which fully confirms my previous impressions. In that 
letter Mr. Everett says, he was told by Lord Aberdeen, on the 
27th of December, 1841, that Lord Ashburton was going to the 
United States "with full power to settle any point in discussion, 
imbodying what was called the right of search, which was the most 
difficult." And another incident comes opportunely to confirm 
all thi«. It is the statement of a senator, who, from his position, 
ought to know the circumstances, and who, from his high charac- 
ter, is entitled to all credit. Colonel King said, in the senate, on 
the 23d ultimo, speaking of the claim to visit our vessels, "It was 
intolerable." Here, then, was a direct point of collision, and that 
was what brought Lord Ashburton to this country with the view 
of adjusting this difficulty. 

I may express the surprise I felt when I read the following par- 
agraph in your last letter, urged with as much emphasis, as though 
the merits of the treaty, and of our whole controversy, turned up- 
on this point. Truly, when such undue importance is given to a 
topic, so little meriting it, when its discussion occupies seven folio 
pages of your last letter, and three pages of its predecessor, and 
when the view you present is most elaborately prepared, 1 may 
well presume that a substantial defence of your various positions 
is not easily found. This is the paragraph : 

"Suppose your letter to go before the public unanswered aad 
uncontradicted; suppose it to mingle itself with the general polit- 
ical history of the country, as an official letter among the archives 
of the Department of State ; would not the general mass of readers 
understand you as reciting facts, rather than as drawing your own 
conclusions? as stating history, rather than as presenting an argu- 
ment ? It is of an incorrect narrative that the President complains ; 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 201 

it is that, in your hotel in Paris, you should undertake to write a 
history of a very delicate part of a negotiation carried on at Wash- 
ington, with which you had nothing to do, and of which you had 
no authentic information ; and which history, as you narrate it, 
reflects not a little on the independence, wisdom, and public spirit 
of the administration." 

Strange, indeed, that this "history," and "narrative," and "del- 
icate part of a negotiation," &c., &c., &:,c., are to be charged to a 
simple suggestion, or assertion if you please, that Lord Ashburton 
came over to make propositions to the government, respecting the 
slave trade, which were accepted. 

But, before quitting this topic, I shall appeal to your own author- 
ity. You remarked to me, in your letter of November 14th, that 
"the United States yielded to no application from England. The 
proposition for abolishing the slave trade, as it stands in the treaty, 
was an American proposition : it originated with the executive go- 
vernment of the United States, which cheerfully assumed its re- 
sponsibility." You remarked, in your letter of December 20th, 
"Now, the English minister no more presented the subject for ne- 
gotiation, than the government of the United States presented it; 
nor can it be said, that the United States consented to its intro- 
duction, in any other sense, than it may be said, that the British 
minister consented to it." All this is too diplomatic for me. A 
can neither clearly comprehend what is meant in the last quotation, 
nor, so far as I comprehend it, can I reconcile it with the other. 
Whether either fairly contradicts my suggestion, that the introduc- 
tion of the slave trade stipulation into the treaty, was due to the 
application of England, I leave to those, who are more competent 
to judge your language than I am, to determine. At first, it is a 
guarded proposition, that the provision, as it stands in the treaty, 
is the work of the American government; and, at last, this pro- 
vision owes its paternity, as much to one government as to the 
other. 

But I may well appeal to your own candor to say, if the special 
pleading in the first quotation meets the issue between us. I said 
we consented to the introduction of the slave trade stipulation into 
the treaty, upon the application of England, and you do not spare, 
your reproof for this assertion, through ten pages of your letters, 
because the proposition, as it stands in the treaty, was an Ameri- 
can proposition. 

But, if you mean by all this, that Lord Ashburton did not make 
any proposition to our government upon this subject, but that you 
pressed it upon him, as you would seem to intimate, in order to 
repel the suggestion I made, then I must be permitted to say, that 
there is nothing more extraordinary in all our diplomatic history. 
I shall not enlarge upon this topic, but merely ask, what benefit 
an American negotiator saw for his country in this arrangement 
connecting us with another nation, and exposing us, both in prin, 
ciple and practice, to consequences, which human sagacity cannot 



202 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

even conjecture? I will ask, in the words of the President's mes- 
sage, xohat adjustment of a dijjiculty of great magnitude and im- 
portance, in relation to this matter, took place, if it was not this 
very question ? What other " embarrassment (still in the words 
of the message) was connected with the African slave trade ?" 
Both Lord Palmerston and Lord Aberdeen, in 1841, expressly dis- 
avowed the right to search American vessels, with a view to pre- 
vent their engaging in the slave trade. They both declared, and 
Sir Robert Peel repeated the declaration in his late speech, (I 
quote the words of the last :) "The right of search, connected with 
American vessels, we entirely disclaim. Nay, more ; if we knew 
that an American vessel was furnished with all the materials, re- 
quisite for the slave trade, «fcc., still we should be bound to let that 
vessel pass on." And that our government knew these views, is 
distinctly stated by the President, in his message, who says that 
Lord Aberdeen "expressly disclaimed all right to detain an Amer- 
ican ship on the high seas, even if found with a cargo of .slaves on 
board, and restricted the pretension to a mere claim to visit and 
inquire.'^ This claim, the President adds, " was regarded as the 
right of search, presented only in a new form, and expressed in 
different words, and I therefore felt it my duty to declare, in my 
annual message to Congress, that no such concession could be 
»made ; and that the United States had both the ability and inclin- 
ation to enforce their own laws," &/C. 1 repeat, then, what other 
point remained to be adjusted upon this general subject, but tliis 
very claim of visitation ? and if this was not adjusted, as it is now 
clear it was not, what "adjustment" did take place? And why was 
the stipulation introduced into the treaty, as though we could not 
keep a squadron on the coast of Africa, and execute our own laws, 
without binding ourselves in a solemn convention with Great Bri- 
tain to do so ? And all this you intimate, without even a request 
on her part ! 

I here close this controversy; and I shall close the correspond- 
ence by a few remarks upon the serious position, in which our 
country is now placed. It affords me no pleasure to find that all 
I foretold respecting the course of the British government, in rela- 
tion to this pretension to search our ships, has been signally con- 
firmed by the recent declaration of Sir Robert Peel. The accom- 
plishment has soon, too soon followed the prediction. I said, in 
my letter to you of February 15th, 1842, as I have already stated, 
that England rarely, if ever, abandoned a pretension, and that in 
my opinion she would enforce this. And in my letter to you of 
December 11th. 1842, speaking of the probability that she would 
carry into efTect her doctrine, 1 said : "That she will do so when 
her interest requires it, I have no more doubt than I have that she 
has already given abundant proofs, that the received code of pub- 
lic law is but a feeble barrier, when it stands in the way of power 
and ambition. Both Lord Palmerston and Lord Aberdeen tell us 
she will." And now, a greater than either has said so, and, as the 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 



2oa 



London Times expresses it, he has said it in the most emphatic 
manner. And what, then, is our position? Sir Robert Peel has 
declared that the British government never will relinquish this 
claim to search our vessels, calling it a visitation ; and. the Lon- 
don Times, the great exponent of the principles and purposes of 
the English government and aristocracy, said, on the 31st of last 
December, a month before this declaration, that, "England has not 
abandoned one tittle of her claim (to search our vessels;) the treaty 
does not afford the smallest presumption, that she has ; and the 
United States would find that the right would continue to be un- 
flinchingly, (aye, that is the word,) unflinchingly exercised." And 
it adds, that this "essential right of the British navy" would nevei' 
be relinquished. Sir Robert Peel is a cautious statesman. He 
does not deal in abstractions. He does not make declarations in 
the face of the world, to remain inoperative, particularly when such 
declarations are cheered by both sides of the House, in a manner 
to show, beyond a doubt, that they are responded to by the public 
feeling of the country. And the Times, well informed of the views 
of the government a month before they were communicated to the 
nation, would not have said that the right icould he unflinchingly 
exercised, if it were to remain a dead letter. 

We all know to what this pretension leads, and to what it is in- 
tended to lead : that it will virtually subject our whole commercial 
marine to the English navy. It is an insult to the common sense 
of the world to talk about a difference, in their effects, between a 
search for one purpose, and a search for another ; and to call a 
search to ascertain the character of a vessel, and to carry her in 
for condemnation — at the will of a midshipman, perhaps, if he be- 
lieves, or affects to believe she belongs to one country and claims 
to belong to another — to that great gulf, always ready to swallow 
American property, a British court of admiralty — to call, I say, 
such a search a visitation, and, by this change of name, to justify 
the pretension — all this was reserved for the nineteenth century. 
For, what is a " visitation?" It is not enough to look at the flag ; 
for any " bunting," as Lord Palmerston calls it, may be hoisted. 
It is not enough to look at the men, for all marines contain foreign- 
ers, as well as natives. It is not enough to look at the papers, for 
these may be simulated. It is not enongh to look at the log-book, 
for that may be false or forged. It is not enough to look at the 
cargo, for that proves nothing. 8ut it is obvious, that all these 
will be looked at to satisfy the inquisitor and his inquisition. 

The London Sun said, last year, very justly, "If the Americans 
sanction the examination of their ships, for the mere purpose of 
ascertaining if a vessel bearing the American flag is bona Jide an 
American vessel, they sanction a rigid examination of the vessel 
herself." And it is to be borne in mind, that the right to exam- 
ine presupposes the right to send in, if the examination is not sat- 
isfactory to the officer, and to condemn if not satisfactory to the 
judge. What follows, let our history from 1793 to 1815 tell. 



204 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

But this is the least injury, sought to be entailed upon us. 
Heretofore, agreeably to her own doctrine, England could only im- 
press our seamen in time of war; for she claimed the right to board 
our vessels, merely as a belligerent right, which ceased when she 
was at peace. And she conceded — and so said the Prince Regent, 
in his celebrated declaration of January 9th, 1813, in answer to 
the manifesto of the American government — that a British cruiser 
could not board an American ship for the purpose of impressment; 
but that, having once entered under a legal right, then the board- 
ing officer could seize whoever he pleased, to be transferred to a 
foreign navy, there to fight against his own country. Now, the 
British government has devised a plan, by which our vessels may 
be boarded in time of peace, and thus the whole seamen of the 
United States may be placed at the disposition of England, in peace 
and war. 

We now understand the full value of impressment, and why Lord 
Ashburton would not relinquish it ; and we understand what the 
London Times means, when it says that " this right of visitation, 
which is to be 'unflinchingly exercised,' is essential to the British 
navy." 

No pretension, in modern times, has advanced more rapidly than 
this. It is but a year or two since Lord Stowell, the well-known 
English admiralty judge, solemnly decided that "no nation can ex- 
ercise a right of visitation (mark that word) and search upon the 
common and unappropriated part of the ocean, except upon the 
belligerent claim." And still later, the Duke of Wellington said, 
in the House of Lords, "that if there was one point more to be 
avoided than another, it was that relating to the visitation of ves- 
sels belonging to the (American) Union." The first time we heard 
of this pretension, as a serious claim, was from Lord Palmerston 
on the 27th of Auo-ust, 1841, and the next was from Lord Aber- 
deen on the 13th of October following; and it was then put forth 
as "indispensable and justifiable," in the execution of certain slave 
trade treaties, formed with the '"States of Christendom." Now, 
the British government claim that it has become a settled part of 
the law of nations. And our ships are to be searched, says Sir 
Robert Peel, to ascertain if a "grievous wrong has not been done 
to the American flag." This is really one of the most extraordi- 
nary assumptions of modern days. Our flag is to be violated, to 
see if it has been abused ! The whole country knows where the 
"grievous wrong" would be, if this principle were carried into 
practice. 

It becomes every American to ask, if he is prepared to yield this 
right of search. For myself, I think it is better to defend the out-' 
works, than the citadel; to fight for the first inch of territory rather 
than for the last ; to maintain our honor when attacked, rather 
than to wait till we have none to be attacked or maintained ; and 
such, I trust and hope, will be the unwavering determination of 
the government and of the country. 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 205 

What I anticipated, when T commenced this letter, has come to 
pass. The documents called for by Colonel Benton have been sent 
into the Senate, as I perceive by the last papers. Your recent 
letter will now go out with the others, and reach the American 
people. I have no means of clearing myself from the difficulties 
you have spread around me, but by submitting my views, as you 
have submitted yours, to the decision of the country. I am now a 
private citizen. Twice, since I became such, you have presented 
to me, in elaborately prepared documents, your sentiments upon 
some important topics, arisingout of the late treaty. These docu- 
ments now make part of the political history of the country. There 
are, therefore, no considerations of duty nor of propriety to restrain 
me from appealing to the same great tribunal to judge between us: 
from endeavoring to redeem myself from some severe charges you 
have made against me. I have been written at, but the public 
have been written to. I shall, therefore, not hesitate to authorize 
the immediate publication of this letter, being little disposed to 
leave it to be buried in the archives of the Department of State. 

At the moment of signing my letter, the President's message of 
February 2Tth, 1843, respecting the treaty of Washington and the 
right of search, has reached me. I think every American should 
go with the President in his reprobation of this doctrine. I refer, 
however, to the message, to say, that had it been in my possession 
when the body of this letter was prepared, I should have quoted it 
instead of quoting the other messages, because in this the views 
are more elaborately prepared than in those, showing that the claim 
of visitation was perfectly comprehended by our government when 
this treaty was negotiated ; that it was denounced as wholly inad- 
missible, and that the treaty was supposed to have made " a prac- 
tical settlement of the question." 

One or two reflections force themselves upon my mind, which 
I shall submit to you, even at this late moment. 

In the first place, this claim to search our vessels, under the 
pretence oUusiting them, though connected in its origin, or rather 
announced as connected, with the African slave trade, is co-exten- 
sive with the ocean. The principle, upon which it rests, so far 
as it rests on any, are of universal application. For, wherever 
a British cruiser meets a vessel bearing the American flag, such 
cruiser may wish to know if a " grievous wrong" has been com- 
mitted, and whether she is truly what she appears to be. 

Such are the necessary consequences of this doctrine, and such 
we now ascertain is the extent to which it is to be pushed. It is 
distinctly announced by Sir Robert Peel, in his late speech, that 
this right of visitation is not necessarily connected with the slave- 
trade, and this is confirmed by the Times, which says, " that this 
right has obviously no intrinsic or neccessary connection with 
the slave trade," and " that it is a part of the marine code of 
nations." 

How, then, could a conventional arrangement, obliging us to 



■206 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

keep a squadron upon the coast of Africa, guard against its exer- 
cise, or "supersede," in the words of the message, "any supposed 
necessity, or any motive, for such examination or visit?" Again, 
How could it guard against these effects, even if the operation of 
the doctrine were limited to search or visitation in slave trade lat- 
itudes ? England said to us — We have made a treaty with France, 
by which we have a right to search her ships, and to send them in 
for condemnation, if they are engaged in the slave trade. If we 
cannot search your ships, we cannot execute this treaty, because 
a French vessel, by hoisting an American flrg, will place herself 
beyond the reach of our cruisers; therefore we shall visit your 
ships. 

Now, it is manifest, that our squadron upon the coast of Africa, 
will not change in the slightest degree this state of things. A 
French vessel may still hoist the American flag, and thus protect 
a cargo of slaves, so far as this protects it, in any part of the great 
ocean, from the African coast to the coast of Brazil. Is this 
squadron of eighty guns, or is any vessel of it, to be every where ? 
And where it is not, what will prevent any ship from placing an 
American flag at its masthead ? 

I am stating, not defending, the British doctrine, and I do not 
enter here, into those obviaus considerations, which demonstrate 
its fallacy and injustice. This I have attempted elsewhere, but 
with what success it does not become me to judge. J attempted 
to show, that because any of the " States of Christendom" choose 
to form treaties for the attainment of objects, military, commercial, 
or philanthrojnc, such mutual arrangements give them no right to 
change the established laws of nations, and to stop and search our 
vessels upon the great highway of the world. It is the slave trade 
to-day, but it may be the sugar trade to-morrow, and the cotton 
trade the day after. But besides, it is obvious that all cases put 
by the British political casuists, in support of this new doctrine, 
are mere questions of identity, where he who does the deed and 
boards the vessel acts, not upon his right, but upon his responsi- 
bility, and, like the sheriff who arrests a person upon a writ, is jus- 
tified, or not, according to the result. 

But it is clear, that this claim, as asserted, is not at all incon- 
sistent with our new treaty stipulation ; that this stipulation does 
not render unnecessary the exercise of the claim ; and, therefore, 
that as it does not expressly, so neither does it by fair implication, 
"make a practical settlement" of the question; nor does "the 
eighth article" remove "all possible pretext, on the ground of mere 
necessity,' to visit and detain our ships upon the African coast, 
because of the alleged abuse of our flag by slave traders of other 
nations." 

Very respectfully, &c., 

LEW. CASS. 

Hon. Daniel Webster, 

Sscretary vf State, Washington. 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 207 

• 

The apprehensions entertained by Gov. Cass, were realized by 
the construction which the English ministry gave to the treaty, on 
this point of negotiation. They insisted, that by the treaty no 
concession had been made by England of her claim of right to 
stop and search our vessels. This was the objection urged by 
Gov. Cass, and the nation against which he was directing his 
efforts, through her ministry, singularly confirmed his argument, in 
opposition to the ground assumed by Mr. Webster. The question 
was left, by the treaty, in the condition in which the negotiation 
found it. The parties to it, differed in their understanding of its 
meaning, and the British government made no secret of its inten- 
tion to deny the construction placed npon the treaty by the United 
States government. It distinctly said, that the right of search 
never formed the subject of discussion during the negotiation, nor 
was any concession required by the United States or made by 
Great Britain. In this discussion Gov. Cass took, from the first, 
high grounds, and successfully maintained them. He demonstrated 
the inutility of insisting that a concession had been made, when, 
in fact, there was none. " Let us," said he, " abandon all profit- 
less diplomatic discussion^ and, strong in our rights, let us meet 
the first violation of our flag, which is committed by order of the 
British government, as nations ought to meet systematic attacks 
upon their honor and independence." 

" I trust," said he, on another occasion, " we shall resist this 
monstrous pretension, to the last extremity; if, in doing so, war 
comes, let it come — there are evils greater than war, and a nation 
which abandons its honor and forfeits its self respect, must become 
the reproach of its cotemporaries, and its name a bye-word to 
posterity." 

Beyond question, Gov. Cass established the fact, that Great Bri- 
tain, in seeking to obtain the ratification of the quintuple treaty, 
had, especially, if not solely, in view the enslavement of the trade 
and commerce of the world, and to subject them to her control, 
and make them tributary to her aspiring greatness. How much, 
then, do we, as Americans, owe ; how much does the world not 
owe to the decisive action of Gov. Cass, which protected their 
rights from being swallowed in the rapacious maw of an ambitious 
and grasping nation? 



208 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

Mr. Webster, though so formidable an antagonist, was com- 
pletely overwhelmed by the force of argument'brought against his 
treaty, by Gov. Cass. The letter of Gov. Cass, dated March 7th, 
1843, was never answered by Mr. Webster. He merely informed 
Gov. Cass, in a brief note, that he had cursorily glanced at a por- 
tion of it, and, after more attentive perusal, if occasion required, 
he would reply to it alt length. This he never found " occasion" 
to do. To this day, the reasoning and argument of Gov. Cass 
stand without even an attempt at refutation from the great negoti- 
ator and constitutional expounder. 

The discussion with Mr. Webster, had the happy effect of plac- 
ing Gov. Cass, in his true light, before his country. His fellow 
citizens admired his boldness and skill, in baffling the schemes of 
Great Britain ; and they sustained him in his objections to the 
treaty of Washington. With their approbation cheering him, he 
could well bear with composure the attacks of his political oppo- 
sers and the vulgar vituperation and abuse of foreign peers and 
presses. 



CHAPTER XI. 

Gov. Cass' opportunities for acquiring knowledge of the schemes of diploma- 
tists — His success in thwarting their plots against the welfare of his country — 
His return to the United States — The reception given to him by the people of 
Boston — Letter from Gen. Jackson — The welcome extended to him by the cit- 
izens of the towns and villages through which he passed on his journey to De- 
troit — His letter to the Committee of the Democratic Convention of Indiana — 
Gen. Cass regarded by the people as a Candidate for the Presidency — Public 
opinion, The annexation of Texas — Gen. Cass' letter advocating annexation, 
The Baltimore Convention of 1841 — Gov; Cass' letter read in that Conven- 
tion — His name withdrawn for the sake of union and harmony — Nomination of 
James K. Polk — Gov. Cass supports the nomination— Meets his fellow citizens 
in various parts of the country and advocates the election of Mr. Polk — Great 
Democratic victory. 

Gov. Cass from his position in public life has enjoyed opportu- 
nities of acquiring a thorough knowledge of the schemes and plans, 
formed by European Cabinets to promote their particular aggran- 
dizement. His accurate perception and tact has enabled him on 
more than one occasion, to frustrate the deep laid and well disguised 
plots of the most celebrated and able diplomatists of Europe. Men 
of all political parties in the United States, with some few excep-. 
lions, have been forced by the palpable, self evident benefits de-. 
rived from his services, to award to him the credit of obtaining 
them, when from political prejudice, they would gladly have with^ 
held their admission. The gratification of receiving an approvmg^ 
voice from his political opponents, has been enjoyed by Gov. Cass, 
to an extent, unequalled in the career of any other eminent citi- 
zen of the Republic, since the days of Washington. 

He was greeted on his arrival in this country, by the applaud- 
ing voice of his countrymen, without distinction of party. He 
was regarded and treated as the man of the nation. His "faith- 
ful services and energetic proceedings at an important crisis in 
his distinguished mission" to use the language of the citizens of 
Boston, had endeared him to every American heart, whose feel- 
ings sought expression in some public acknowledgement of their 
gratitude. There was all over the country a spontaneous exhibi- 
tion of admiration and esteem, for the man who unawed by the 
14 



210 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

potentates of the old world, stood forth, even then unsustained by 
bis own government, their single opposer, when they attempted to 
interpolate in the maritime law of the world, their selfish concep- 
4ions of their own interests, involving an outrage upon the Ameri- 
can flag, and an infringement of the rights of American Seamen. 
It was truly a sublime spectacle, and the people loved to picture 
jt before them, when the plain and unostentatious representative 
of this free Republic, at the proudest Court of Europe, surrounded 
by the noble, and learned, and experienced ministers of the Great 
Powers — arose in the might of the great principles he advocated 
and said to them in the thunder tones of an American freeman 
"my Country will have none of this — she will newer submit to have 
her ships stopped on their course by ani/ or all of the nations of 
the world." 

The following letter signed by numerous distinguished citizens 
of the New England Metropolis is but one of hundreds of similar 
expressions of public opinion. 

"Boston, Dec. 7, 1842. 

Sir : — The undersigned citizens of New England, would con- 
gratulate your Excellency on your safe return to your native conn- 
ivy after i/our faithful services and energetic j^roceedings at an 
important crisis in your distinguished mission ; and respectfully 
request that you will give them and their fellow-citizens an oppor- 
teniiy of expressing personally the high respect which i/our public 
iareer and private virtues have uniformly inspired. 

"Returning as you do with the approbation of that generous 
people, who were the first, and for a long time, the only friends of 
our fathers, we should prefer that the meeting should be at such a 
time as would suit your convenience, in Faneuil Hall, — the spot 
in which of all. others, Americans would desire to welcome her de- 
serving ones. 

"We are, with sentiments of the highest consideration, your 
Excellency's most obedient servants. 

It is a remarkable fact, and one which so seldom exists in the 
career of public officers, that it excites our surprize when it oc- 
curs, that in regard to Gen. Cass no objection was ever made to 
the manner in which he conducted the most difficult and intricate 
functions of the numerous offices, which he filled. Seven times in 
succession and under four successive Presidents, he was nomina- 
ted Governor of Michigan, and seven times confirmed by the Uni- 
ted States Senate without a single vote against, or a single represen- 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 211 

cation against him from the hardy pioneers over whom he presided. 
The venerable occupant of the Hermitage, whose personal inter- 
est in the success of Gov. Cass, was amply satisfied by its results, 
addressed the following letter of warm approval to the Gov. 

To the Hon Lewis Cass : — 

Hermitage, July 1843. 
My Dear Sir : — I have the pleasure to acknowledge your friendly 
letter of the twenty-fifth of May last. It reached me in due course 
of mail : but such were ray debility and afflictions, that I have been 
prevented from replying to it until now ; and even now it is with 
difficulty that I write. In return for your expressions with regard 
to myself, I have to remark, that I shall ever recollect, my dear 
General, with great satisfaction, the relations, both private and of- 
ficial, which subsisted between us, during the greater part of my 
administration. Having full confidence in your abilities and re- 
publican principles, I invited you to my Cabinet ; and I can never 
forget with what discretion and talents you met those great and 
delicate questions which were brought before you whilst you pre- 
sided over the department of war, which entitled you to my thanks, 
and will be ever recollected with the most lively feeling of friend- 
ship by me. 

But what has endeared you to every true American, was the 
noble stand which you took, as our minister at Paris, against the 
quintuple treaty, and which, by your talents, energy, and fearless 
responsibility, defeated its ratification by France — a treaty intend- 
ed by Great Britain, to change our international laws, make her 
mistress of the seas, and destroy the national independence, not 
only of our own country, but of all Europe, and enable her to be- 
come the tyrant on every ocean, Had Great Britain obtained the 
sanction to this treaty, (with the late disgraceful treaty of Wash- 
ington — so disreputable to our national character, and injurious to 
our national safety) then, indeed we might have hungup our harps 
upon the willow, and resigned our national independence to Great 
Britain. But, I repeat, to your talents, energy, and fearless re- 
sponsibility, we are indebted for the shield thrown over us from the 
impending danger which the ratification of the quintuple treaty by 
France would have brought upon us. For this act, the thanks of 
every true American, and the applause of every true republican, 
are yours ; and for this noble act 1 tender you my thanks. 
Receive assurance of my friendship and esteem. 

ANDREW JACKSON. 

In the principle cities and towns of the Union, the presence of 
Gov. Cass, created a desire among all classes, to see and talk with 
the man who had by his straightforward advocacy of freedom and 
republicanism, drawn the claws from the feet of the British Lion. 
His visit to Washington, immediately on hia return, created great 



212 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

sensation there, not only among the the people, but among the 
leading politicians of the land. They saw, the future President 
of the United States. They felt, that sooner or later, Lewis Cass, 
would be the Chief Magistrate of this Union. Remaining inWash- 
'ington until nearly the close of January, Gov. Cass then left on his 
journey homewards to Detroit. His route was through Pennsylvania 
and Ohio, in accordance with the expressed wishes of the citizens 
of those states, \yho wished to receive and take by the hand, the 
man who led their volunteers to war in 1812, and who, thirty 
years afterwards, again baffled the same foe against the liberties 
and rights of his country, whom he assisted, to overthrow on 
the banks of the river Thames. His route was one continued 
scene of triumph, the more grateful as it was the spontaneous, un- 
solicited oblation of gratitude and esteem, to one who was then a 
private citizen, without the attractions or the power of high of- 
ficial station. As Gov. Cass approached the boundaries of his 
own state, the people became enthusiastic in their preparations to 
receive him. The municipal authorities, and literary and me- 
chanical associations, united with private citizens, to show, in an 
impressive and becoming manner, their appreciation of the benefits, 
they as citizens had received from his services. 

The citizens of Detroit were stimulated by emulation in their ar- 
rangements for his reception. A conmiittee proceded by rail road 
to meet the Governor at Ypsilanti, and escort him to the city. 
They arrived at the depot in Detroit, on the fourteenth of Febru- 
ary, about two o'clock in the afternoon. Here they were met by 
a large concourse of citizens, who, with the Governor of the state, 
members of the legislature, the military and civic associations had 
assembled to welcome home, their friend and fellow citizen. The 
proQeedings were alike creditable to the people, and gratifying to 
the object of their attentions. Dr. Houghton, the Mayor of Detroit, 
in behalf of the citizens, received Gov. Gass, with an appropriate 
address, to which the Gov. replied in a beautiful and touching 
manner, alluding to his early- connection with Michigan, when 
though he had the misfortune to behold a foreign flag replace that 
of our own upon the site of our beautiful city,'it was permitted him 
in the Providence of God, to aid in the expulsion of the enemy and 
erect again the national banner over our city and strait. He spoke 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 213 

of the fortitude and fidelity of our early citizens, in braving the 
evils of those times, and in adhering to their country, when the 
woes of that period, when danger and suffering and death, were 
the consequences of their allegiance. Briefly and pertinently 
touching upon other topics, connected with the history of Michi- 
gan, and called to his mind by the scene before him, in contrast 
with what he had seen and experienced, when war had scattered 
destruction throughout this region, when the inhabitants were 
dispersed and impoverished, when there was not a church not 
school house, nor a court house, nor a bridge, nor a road in the 
whole country ; when the best part of the territory was in posses- 
sion of the Indians — he spoke of the welcome his countrymen had 
given him after seven years absence from his native land. With 
an emotion that betrayed how deeply he was affected by the con- 
gratulations of his ftiends, he remarked, " from the time I set foot 
upon my native shore at Boston, to this last manifestation of good 
will I have to acknowledge the spontaneous'proofs of regard, every 
where shown to me, and the recollection of which will disappear, 
but with the termination of life." 

At the conclusion of the ceremony of reception, Gov. Cass was 
escorted by the Battalion of Frontier Guards, and a long proces- 
sion of citizens, to his rooms at Dibble's Exchano-e. 

Circumstances pointed to Gov. Cass, as prominent among the 
number of eminent statesmen of the country, from whom the se- 
lection of chief magistrate would be made. But little more than 
a year would elapse before a Presidential election would occur. 
During his absence, several questions of public policy had arisen, 
upon which the people were divided in opinion, and in regard to 
which he had enjoyed no opportunity of expressing his views. 
Having consented, at the earnest entreaty of many influential and 
patriotic citizens, to become a candidate for the highest oflice in 
the gift of the people, he had no reluctance in frankly and openly 
declaring his opinions. He was addressed on the subject, by a 
prominent democrat of Michigan, in a letter, containing interroga- 
tories in regard to the leading measures which then agitated the 
public mind. To this letter he replied with promptness, and in a 
clear and comprehensive manner laid before the people of the Union 
his political sentiments. This declaration of principles is a cate- 



214 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

gorical reply to the inquiries made in the letter. He declared him- 
self to be opposed to the incorporation by government of a National 
Bank, under any form or pretence whatever : first, because the 
power to do so is not granted by the constitution of the United 
States; and, second, because public opinion had pronounced itself 
against such an institution. On the subject of the Tariff, Gov. 
Cass' sentiments accorded with those of the great mass of the de- 
mocrats of the Union. He expressed himself in favor of an eco- 
nomical expenditure — a tariff producing enough, with the sales of 
the public lands, to meet this expenditure, and so divided among 
the various articles of importation as to protect our own manufac- 
tures by reasonable duties ; and within these limits, a practical ap- 
plication of the just principles of free trade to our foreign com- 
merce, seem to him to comprehend the outhnesofthe duties of the 
government of the United States upon these difficult topics. He 
was opposed to the distribution of the proceeds of the public lands 
among the different States, and in favor of appropriating them to 
the support of the government. 

In regard to his position as a candidate for the Presidency, he 
declared that he should be bound by the decision of the Democra- 
tic General Convention. 

A few weeks previous to the publication of the letter just alluded 
to, the Democratic State Convention of Indiana had solicited the 
views of Gov. Cass upon the same questions which formed the sub- 
ject of inquiry in the above mentioned letter. The reply of Gov. 
Cass was more extended, and his examination of the subject more 
in detail than on the latter occasion. But at the time when he was 
written to, by the citizen of Michigan, his letter to the Indiana 
Convention had not been made public. It was soon afterwards 
published ; and as it discusses in a most admirably lucid manner 
the different subjects of inquiry, and is so plain and unconcealed 
an avowal of opinion on measures of great importance to our coun- 
try, it is here given at length. 

Columbus, Ohio, Feb. 8th, 1843. 
Gentlemen : Your letter, enclosing the resolutions of the Demo- 
cratic Convention of the State of Indiana, was addressed to me at 
Washington, but did not reach that city till after I had left there. 
It was then forwarded to me at this place, and in consequence of 
having stopped upon the route, considerable delay has occurred in 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 215 

its receipt. I make this explanation to account for that delay. 

T shall now proceed to answer the questions proposed by the 
convention, briefly, but frankly; satisfied it will -be more agree- 
able to yourselves, and your colleagues of the convention, that I 
should be explicit, than that I should be led into tedious disser- 
tations. 

With respect to a National Bank, I have to remark, that I have 
always entertained doubts of the power of Congress to charter such 
an institution. The indirect process by which this power is dedu- 
ced from a very general provisimi of that instrument, has never 
been satisfactory to me. But there is the less necessity for enter- 
ing more in detail into the constitutional qij^stion, as it seems to 
me the public voice has pronounced itself, and justly, against the 
incorporation of any national bank by Congress. No such insti- 
tution should, in my opinion, be established. 

In answer to the second question, which relates to the distribu- 
tion of the proceeds of the public lands among the several States, 
I reply, that I think no such distribution should be made. I will 
state, in a few words, the ground of this opinion. The necessary 
revenue for the support of the government of the United States, 
must come from the people, and it must be supplied by direct or 
indirect taxation, or by the sale of public property. The general 
sentiment is opposed to direct taxation by the general government 
in time of peace ; and of course there are left but the other two 
sources of supply to meet its expenses. Their proceeds must 
constitute the revenue of the country ; and if one of them is ab- 
stracted or diminished, an additional burthen is thrown upon the 
other. Whatever sum the necessary exfienses of the government 
may require, if the proceeds of the public lands make no part of 
it, the whole must be raised by taxation. If they make part of it, 
then the amount of taxation is diminished by the sum supplied by 
these proceeds. It follows that any proposition to divert the pro- 
ceeds of these lands from the support of government is in fact but 
a proposition to lay taxes upon the people. If a permanent annua! 
revenue of eighteen millions of dollars is necessary for an eco- 
nomical administration of the government, and if two millions of 
these are produced by the sales of public lands, let the source of 
this supply be diverted to some other object, and these two millions 
must be provided by the imposition of taxes. All this is too clear 
to need further illustration. A proposition then to distribute the 
proceeds of the public lands among the several States, is, in effect, 
but a proposition to increase the taxation of the people of the Uni- 
ted States through the medium of the general government, in order 
that the amount, thus increased, maybe paid into the treasuries of 
the respective States. To me it appears perfectly clear that what- 
ever may be the annual sum produced by the sale of lands, that 
sum is a part of the revenue of the country, and that it is just as 
competent for Congress to take any other two millions, supposing 
that to be the amount, from the public treasury, and divide them 



216 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

among the States, as to select for that purpose the dollars actually 
produced by the land sales. It seems to me that such a course of 
action would be injurious in practice, dangerous in principle, and 
without warrant in the constitution of the United States. The 
theory of our political institutions, is familiar to us all. The gov- 
ernments of the confederated States have their respective rights 
and duties clearly defined, and each within its proper sphere, is 
independent of the others, each raises and expends its revenue, 
and performs all the necessary functions of a sovereign State. 
What right has one to interfere ^ith another, unless in cases mark- 
ed out by the constitution itself? If the general government can 
provide a revenue for the respective States, and does provide one, 
it is clear that one great distinctive feature of our political system 
will disappear, and that the relations between the confederation as 
such, and the individual States composing it, will be wholly 
changed. Human sagacity cannot foretel what would be the en- 
tire result of this state of things, but it is easy to predict that this 
new application of the money power would give to the government 
of the United States a strength never contemplated by the Ameri- 
can people, and irreconcilable with our constitutional organization, 
and that it would lead to a habit of dependence on the part of the 
States, by which their efficiency to resist any encroachments of the 
general government would be paralysed. Without pushing these 
considerations further, I conclude this branch of the subject by 
repeating, that, in my opinion, no distribution of the proceeds of 
the public lands should be made. 

The subject of the protective tariff has been so long and ably 
discussed, that it would be useless for me to do more than to give 
you the result of my views. I think, then, that the revenue of the 
government ought to be brought down to the lowest point compati- 
ble with the performance of its constitutional functions ; and that 
in the imposition of duties, necessary, with the proceeds of the 
public lands, to provide this revenue, incidental protection should 
be afforded to such branches of American industry as may require 
it. This appears to me not only constitutional, but called for by 
the great interests of the country ; and if a protective tariff upon 
this principle, were wisely and moderately established, and then 
left to its own operation, so that the community could calculate 
upon its reasonable duration, and thus avoid ruinous fluctuations, 
we might look for as general acquiescence in the arrangement, as 
we can ever expect in questions of this complicated kind, when 
local feelings have been enlisted, which a prudent legislature must 
consult, more or less, and endeavor to reconcile. 

A proposition to amend the constitution of the United States, is 
one which I should always receive with great caution. There is 
already in our country too great a disposition to seek, in changes 
of the laws and constitutions, remedies for evils to which all socie- 
ties are more or less liable ; instead of leaving them to find their 
own cure in the operation of the ordinary causes which act upon 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 217 

communities. It is often better to suffer a partial inconvenience, 
than rashly to alter the fundamental principles of a political system. 
Stability is better than change, when change is not decidedly called 
for. I am not aware that the exercise of the veto power has, for 
many years, produced any injury to the public service. On the 
contrary, I think in those cases where it has been recently interpo- 
sed, it has been properly applied, and that its action has been ap- 
proved by a great majority of the people. I see, therefore, no prac- 
tical evil which demands, in this respect, a change in the constitu- 
tion of the United States. Should cases of that nature occur, it 
will then be time to seek the proper remedy. 

With great respect, gentlemen, I have the honor to be 

Your obedient servant, 

LEWIS CASS. 
To Ethan A. Brown, John Law, Nathaniel West, John Petit, 

Jesse D. Bright, and A. C. Pepper, Esquires. 

Meetings were called in various places throughout the Union, 
to give expression to the sentiments of the people in regard to a 
Presidential candidate. In the spring of 1843, a large meeting 
was held in Cincinnati, at which an address and resolutions were 
adopted, setting forth the claims of Gov. Cass to the Presidency. 
Mr. Calhoun, Mr. Van Buren, Mr. Buchanan, Col. Benton, and 
Col. R. M. Johnson, were among the aspirants for that high sta- 
tion. All of them fully qualified to administer the government 
with honor and advantage. In canvassing their qualifications, the 
meeting acknowledged their eminent fitness for the office, but could 
not avoid the conviction that there was a sectionality, so to speak, 
attached to each of them, which would not fail to have its influ- 
ence, when they came before the whole people for their suffrages. 
To the permanent and complete success of the democratic party, 
it was deemed necessary to support the man who, in the language 
of the address, " could go before the American people, comman- 
ding the most heartfelt enthusiasm, and combining the most ele- 
ments of success ; and such a man is Lewis Cass — a man who ex- 
emplifies in his own person and history one of the best traits of 
our institutions." 

Sentiments similar to these, and assemblages of the same kind, 
were common throughout the Union. The distinguished object of 
these manifestations of favor and regard, was at the time quietly 
and happily residing with his family, in the city of Detroit, and for 
the first time in thirty years, liberated from the cares and anxieties 
of public office. 



218 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

In 1843 and 1844 the public mind became deeply absorbed in 
the then approaching Presidential election. The opinions of the 
prominent candidates for the Presidency, on the most important 
questions of policy, were published, the preferences of the people 
were ascertained and declared in primary meetings, the contest 
awakened more than ordinary feeling among all classes of commu- 
nity. The whig party conceiving themselves deceived by the 
presidential acts of John Tyler, whom they had elected Vice Presi- 
dent, with Gen. Harrison, were active and energetic in preparing 
for the campaign. It was well settled long before the meeting of 
the National Whig Convention, that the whig party would again 
bring forward as their Candidate, Henry Clay, who was then uni- 
versally recognized as the embodiment of the various elements of 
their party organization. Their success in 1840, stimulated them 
with the hope that they could again be victorious at the ballot box, 
even with a candidate who had several times been defeated. The 
democratic party, surprised by the unexpected success of their op- 
ponents were alike active and vigilant. Among so many able 
statesmen adorning the ranks their principal difficulty was in ma- 
king the selection of a candidate. It was the general impression 
that their defeat in 1840 was more justly ascribable to fraud and 
corruption, to delusion and misunderstanding, rather than an op- 
position to their principles or a lukewarmness in their advocacy. 
A portion of the party were of opinion that a severe rebuke should 
be given to those who had used such unhallowed means to over- 
throw the democratic party. They deemed that no more unwel- 
come punishment could be inflicted upon the whig party, or a more 
effectual vindication of their principles achieved than the election 
of Martin Van Buren the defeated candidate of 1840. Upon this 
ground a portion of the democratic party were in favor of again 
nominating him for the presidency. Politicians declared that the 
nomination of Mr. Van Buren, would produce in the democratic 
ranks "ardor and enthusiasm" in his support; that the masses 
would rally to his support with a spirit and generous enthusiasm 
that would be resistless. But the masses did not respond to this 
feeling. They saw Mr. Van Buren distanced in the contest with 
Gen. Harrison ; they saw the man who went into the Presidential 
chair in 1837 with the democratic party in the zenith of its strength 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 219 

leave it in 1841 with his party prostrate and powerless. But Mr. 
Van Buren, numbered among his personal friends, many able 
statesmen, as well as skillful and accomplished tacticians. Their 
political talent, their experience in management, their facil- 
ities for manufacturing public opinion, and giving a bias to the 
popular will, were all brought to bear effectually, upon the ob- 
ject, that was nearest their hearts. More than one State Conven- 
tion, was thus induced to give public and somewhat authoritative 
avowal to a preference for Mr. Van Buren. Such expression 
might with reason be regarded as a true exponent of popular feel- 
ing and rightly so, where on comparison, with the declarations 
of the people themselves in their primary meetings, they are found 
to correspond. But it is far safer to regard the adopted resolves 
of a delegated body, as more surely indicating the preferences of 
a majority of the individuals composing it, than those of the mass 
for whom they are acting. That such was the case, with many of 
the democratic state conventions of 1 844, is abundantly establish- 
ed by the fact, that in many of the states, where a preference for 
Mr. Van Buren, was thus Conventionally declared, the people in 
their home meetings, then public gatherings and caucuses, in ef- 
fect nullified the action of their delegates by declaring their choice 
to be some one of the other aspirants to the same office. The 
effect, of this difference of opinion was visible, when the National 
Convention assembled. Delegates who were impliedly bound by 
the preference of the body which appointed them, voted, in obedi- 
ence to what they knew to be the popular will, directly in opposi- 
tion to the expression of the appointing Convention, but in accor- 
dance with the wishes and predilections of four fifths of the de- 
mocracy of the State they represented. 

There is a mighty though calm power in the voice of the people. 
The petty manoeuvres of politicians — the intrigues of designing 
men',, no matter how skillfully framed ultimately bend in subjec- 
tion to its potential demands. It has a force which will not brook 
resistance. Like truth itself, in its purity and strength, it sooner 
or later prostrates all opposition. 

While the friends of Mr. Van Buren, were actively engaged in 
creating a public opinion to operate in his favor upon the national 
convention, the other eminent candidates, remained in dignified 



220 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

and becoming inactivity, trusting to their own merits as distin- 
guished sons of the Republic, having full confidence in the intel- 
ligence and discrimination of their fellow democrats. Gov. Cass, 
made no personal effort, to increase the favorable estimation he had 
acquired among the people. Frank and unequivocal declarations 
of his political sentiments he had cheerfully made, when called up- 
on, and he was satisfied with leaving the decision of the Presiden- 
tial nomination with the representatives of the democracy. 

Not long prior to the agitation of this subject, the administration 
concluded a treaty with the authorities of Texas whereby she was 
admitted as one of the states of the Union. Public opinion was 
divided, though not equally, upon the policy of this measure, and 
the candidates for the Presidency were interrogated upon their 
views of this act of the government. A majority of them approved 
the act. Mr. Van Buren opposed it. The venerable Jackson, 
though not a candidate for office, came forth from his retirement 
and energetically advocated the proceeding. But from no one, did 
the measure meet with more hearty approval, than it did from Gov. 
Cass. When asked if he was favorable to the immediate annexa- 
tion of Texas, his reply was " I am." The letter of Gov. Cass, to 
Hon. Edward Hannegan, declaring his opinion, is unequivocal and 
determined. 

Detroit, May 10, 1844. 

In answer to your inquiry whether I am favorable to the imme- 
diate annexation of Texas to the United States, I reply that I ara. 
As you demand my opinion only of this measure, and briefly the 
reasons which influence me, I shall confine myself to these points. 

I shall not dwell upon the policy of uniting coterminous coun- 
tries situated like ours and Texas, with no marked geographical 
features to divide them, and with navigable streams penetrating the 
limits of both. Nor upon the common origin of the people who 
inhabit them ; upon the common manners, language, religion, in- 
stitutions, and in fact, their identity as a branch of the human 
family. Nor shall I urge the material interests involved in the 
measure, by the free intercourse it would establish, between the va- 
rious sections of a vast country, mutually dependent upon, and 
supplying one another. These considerations are so obvious, that 
they need no elucidation from me. 

But in a military point of view, annexation strikes me as still 
more important, and my mind has been the more forcibly impress- 
ed with this idea from reading the able letter of Gen. Jackson, up- 
on this subject, which has just come under my observation With 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 221 

the intuition, which makes part of the character of that great man, 
and pure patriot, he has foreseen the use which a European enemy 
might make of Texas in the event of a war with the United States. 
A lodgement in that country would lay open the whole South 
Western border to his depredations. We could establish no for- 
tress, nor occupy any favorable position to check him, for the im- 
mense frontier may in a vast many places be crossed as readily as 
a man passes from one part of his farm to another. The advanta- 
ges an active enemy would enjoy under such circumstances, it re- 
quires no sagacity to foretell. 

These considerations recall to my memory an article, which 
made its appearance just before I left Europe, in a leading Tory 
periodical in England, which is understood to speak the sentiments 
of a powerful party. This is Frazer's Magazine, and a more ne- 
farious article never issued from a profligate press. It ought to be 
stereotyped and circulated from one end of our country to the 
other, to show the designs which are in agitation against us, and 
to teach us that our safety m that mighty contest which is coming 
upon us, is in a knowledge of our danger, and in a determination 
by union, and by a wise forecast to meet it and defeat it. The 
spirit of this article is sufficiently indicated by its title, which is " a 
war with the United States, a blessing to mankind." I cannot re- 
fer to it at this moment, but must speak of it from recollection. I 
have often been surprised it has not attracted more attention in 
our country. Its object was to excite a war with the United States, 
and to lay down the plan of a campaign, which would soonest bring 
it to a fortunate conclusion for England. The basis of this plan 
was the organization of a necessary black force in the West India 
Islands, and its debarcation upon our Southern coast. The con- 
sequences which our enemies fondly hoped for in such a case, but 
with an entire ignorance of the true state of the couutry, were fore- 
told with a rare union of philanthropy and hatred. I wish I had 
the number at hand to cull some choice passages for your reflec- 
tion. The result was to be destruction of the Southern States, the 
ruin or depression of the others, and the dissolution of this great 
and glorious confederacy, on which the last hopes of freedom 
through the world now rest. 

What more favorable position could betaken for 'the occupation 
of English black troops, and for letting them loose upon the South- 
ern States than is afforded by Texas ? Incapable of resisting, in 
an event of a war between us and England, she would be taken 
possession of by the latter under one or another of those pretenses 
which e^'ery page of her history furnishes, and the territory would 
become the depot whence she would carry on her operations against 
\is, and attempt to add a servile war to the other calamities which 
hostilities bring with them. He who doubts whether this would 
be done has yet to learn another trait in the annals of national an- 
tipathy. It would be done and would be called philanthropy. 

Every day satisfies me more and more, that a majority of the 



222 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

American people are in favor of annexation. Were they not, the 
measure ought not to be affected. But as they are, the sooner it 
is effected the better. I do not touch the details of the negotiation. 
That must be left to the responsibilities of the government, as also 
must the bearing of the question upon its reception by other coun- 
tries. Those are points I do not here enter into. 

I am, dear sir, respectfully, your obedient servant, 

LEWIS CASS. 
Hon. Edward Hannegan. 

Under these circumstances, the Democratic National' conven- 
tion met at Baltimore on the first day of May 1844. On the bal- 
lotings it appeared that Messrs Van Buren, Cass, R. M. John- 
son, Buchanan, Woodbury, Calhoun and Stewart, severally had 
supporters in the convention. The first two, were the strongest 
Candidates. The convention adopted the rule of the conventions 
of 1832 and 1835 requiring the nominee to be chosen by a vote of 
two thirds of the members of the convention voting. There were 
two hundred and fifty delegates in the convention and the requi- 
site number of votes for a nomination was 176. On the first bal- 
lotting Mr. Van Buren, had much the largest vote, but not within 
twenty of the required number. As the ballotting proceeded, Cass 
gained strength and on the seventh ballot received twenty four 
votes more than Mr. Van Buren. On the eighth ballot, Massa- 
chusetts cast five, Pennsylvania two, Maryland one, Alabama nine, 
Lousiana six, and Tennessee thirteen votes for James K. Polk of 
Tennessee. The announcement of another and entirely unexpec- 
ted Candidate for Presidential honors, seemed to present an oppor- 
tunity to the friends of Cass and Van Buren of selecting a can- 
didate who would be acceptable to the supporters of both those 
gentlemen in the convention. The convention proceeded to a 
ninth ballot during which the New York and Virginia delegates 
withdrew to consult on the best course to be adopted. New York 
had uniformly and unanimously supported Mr. Van Buren. Vir- 
ginia had steadily cast her vote for Gov. Cass ; upon their re- 
turn into the convention both States cast their vote for Mr. Polk. 

That there might be no obstacle in the way of an unanimous 
choice by the convention of a candidate. Gov. Cass had author- 
ized his name to be withdrawn. Hon. Edward Bradley a delegate 
from Michigan announced the following letter to the Convention. 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 223 

Detroit, May 19, 1844. 

Gentlemen : — It is possible, that my name, among others, may 
come before the convention, which is about to meet at Baltimore. 
I am at a distance, and can do nothing to meet the contingencies, 
which may arise during its discussion. You will all do me the 
justice I am sure, to say that I have taken as little part in passing 
events, as it was possible for any man, in my position, to take. I 
have sat still, quietly awaiting the result, and determined to be 
satisfied with it, whatever that might be. 

Though your first choice for President has been directed to the 
eminent statesman, who has already so ably administered the gov- 
ernment, still it is possible that circumstances affecting neither his 
services nor his merits, may induce you to seek some other candi- 
date, and in that event, if state pride should not supply my other 
deficiencies and lead your attention to me, it may yet create some 
interest in my position, and a desire that I should dishonor neither 
myself, our party nor the state. I have thought therefore I might 
so far calculate upon your indulgence, as to briefly lay before you 
my sentiments under existing circumstances, and to ask your aid 
in carrying my intentions into effect. 

I never sought the Presidency of the United States. When in 
France, I declined being a candidate, in answer to an application 
made to me by a respectable committee of citizens of Philadelphia. 
When I returned I found my name was before the country, and 
the matter seemed to have been taken up by my friends, and to 
have passed beyond my control. I often regretted this, and fre- 
quently vacillated, respecting the course I ought to adopt, till time 
and events took from me the power of decision. I mention these 
impressions to show you, that in reaching the conclusion, at which 
I have now arrived, and am about to announce to you, I have made 
no sacrifice of feeling, and shall experience no regret. 

We cannot shut our eyes to the fact, that dissentions exist in 
the ranks of our party, which threaten its defeat. Without form- 
ing any opinion respecting their origin and progress, their exis- 
tence is enough to excite the solicitude of all, who believe that the 
prosperity of the country is closely connected with the success of 
the Democratic party. 

I hope and trust, that a wise spirit of conciliation will animate 
the Baltimore Convention, and that its decision will restore to us 
harmony and confidence. But I have determined not to be in the 
way of this desirable result. And it is the purpose of this letter 
to announce to you this resolution. Should it be thought by the 
convention, with reasonable unanimity, that the party had better 
present my name to the country, I shall submit, and prepare my- 
self for the contest. But if there is such a division of opinion on 
the subject as to show, that a hearty and united exertion would not 
be made in my favor, I beg you to withdraw my name without hes- 
itation. We shall need all our force in the coming struggle. If 
that is exerted, we shall succeed — if not, we shall fail. I will 



224 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

neither put to hazard the Democratic party, nor have any agency 
in brino-inof the election into the House of Representatives, one of 
the trials to be most deprecated under our Constitution. 

These, gentlemen, are my views, and if necessary, I beg you 
to announce them, and to declare me not a candidate, in case there 
is not reasonable hope that the party will unite in my favor. I do 
not doubt, that in such an event my friends will abandon all per- 
sonal predilection, and prove their devotion to principles, by a zeal- 
ous support of the nominee of the Convention. 

With great regard, 
I am gentlemen, 

Your ob't servant, 
LEW. CASS. 
To the Delegates from the State of Michigan, to the Baltimore 
Convention. 

The Convention unanimously nominated Mr. Polk for the Presi- 
dency, and subsequently Geo. M. Dallas of Pennsylvania for Vice 
President. 

The proceedings of the Convention, received from Gen. Cass, 
his sincere and active support. When the result was known at 
Detroit, the democracy of that ancient city, overlooking their own 
disappointment in not having their favorite candidate and fellow 
citizen, presented to them, rallied en masse to respond to the no- 
mination. At this meeting Gov. Cass was present and addressed 
his fellow democrats, enjoining them to support the nominations 
with their accustomed zeal, and energy. He said " he had come 
there to take part in the proceedings, to express his hearty concur- 
rence in the nominations made by the Baltimore Democratic Con- 
vention, and to announce his determination faithfully to support 
them. The democratic party had just passed through a crisis 
which served to prove the integrity of its principle, and the inter- 
nal strength of its cause. After many differences of opinion, dif- 
ferences however about men, and not measures, the Convention 
had chosen a man whose private character was irreproachable, and 
who, in various public stations had given proof of his ability, and 
firmness and devotion to those principles which the democratic par- 
ty deemed essential to the prosperity of our own country and the 
perpetuation of her free institutions. Nothing now is wanting to 
ensure success, but united exertion, and that we must and will have. 
Let us put behind us the divisions and preferences of the past, 
and join in one common effort, to promote the triumph of our cause, 



LIFE OE GENERAL CASS. 225 

victory is in our power, and let us attain it. Let every one feel, 
and fulfill his duty." 

The efforts of Gov. Cass in support of the nominations were not 
confined to the vicinity of his home. In the different towns of 
iVIichigan, and of other states he met assembled crowds of the de- 
mocratic party, and encouraged them by precept and example to 
bring their mighty power to bear with all its strength upon the 
great point of success in the approaching election. Active co-ope- 
ration, from Gen. Cass or from any individual holding the relation 
that that he did to the successful candidate of the convention, was 
more than was to be expected. But no petty jealousy — no disaf- 
fection severed him, a moment from the full and efficient advocacy 
of the claims of the nominee to the entire support of the democ- 
racy. This exhibition of disinterestedness influenced many a wa- 
vering democrat, to decide firmly upon adopting the line of duty, 
and sacrifice his pprsonal inclinations, upon the altar of principle. 

The cheerful acquiescence and approval, expressed by the pro- 
minent men who were candidates before the convention, in the re- 
sult of its deliberations, it must be admitted contributed powerful- 
ly in securing the success which followed, which elevated to the 
Chief Magistracy the nominee of the democratic party, by a tri- 
umphant majority over the popular and venerable whig leader, 
Henry Clay. 



15 



CHAPTER XII. 

Magnitude of questions before Congress— Interest felt throughout the Union in 
the election of Senntors— The sentiment of the people, in regard to Gen. Cass' 
election to the Senate— His election by the Legislature of Michigan— His first 
act in the Senate, evinces his keen watchfulness over the rights and honor of 
his country— Resolutions of Senator Allen— Gen. Cass supports them— His re- 
marks thereon— The Oregon question— The great interests involved in its set- 
tlement—The recommendations of the President— Resolution of Mr. Allen 
giving notice that convention of 1827, between the United States and Great 
Britain, he annulled and abrog-ated— Speech of Gen. Cass, in regard to our 
defences — His remarks thereon. 

The magnitude of the questions arising in Congress, impressed 
the public mind with the necessity of having in the Senate of the 
United States, the first and most eminent men of the country. It 
was apparent, that with the commencement of Mr. Polk's presiden- 
tial term, an era in the affairs of the nation would arise, requiring 
all the skill and experience of our wisest statesmen. The official 
terms of many senators would expire with the administration of 
John Tyler. The filling the vacancies thus occurring was a sub- 
ject of general interest, all through the United States. It was not 
confined to state limits. Each state felt interested in the choice 
her sisters in the confederacy might make. The term of Hon. 
Augustus S. Porter, of Michigan was one of those which would 
terminate in March, 1S45. In regard to who would be his succes- 
sor there was but one sentiment, not only within the the State of 
Michigan, but elsewhere. The universal choice fell upon Gen. Cass. 
The legislature of Michigan, at its annual session in January 1845, 
in compliance with public opinion, elected Gen. Cass, senator for 
six years ensuing the fourth of March, then next. Every demo- 
cratic member of the legislature, except two in the senate, voted 
for him His election therefore may be said to have been unani- 
mous. He took his seat in the senate at the executive session 
called upon the inauguration of Mr. Polk. 

The first session of the 29th Congress commenced on th^ first 
Monday of December 1845. This was the first regular meeting 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 227 

of Congress under the new administration. The President in his 
annual message had expressed it to be his determination to carry 
out the policy of the government, as declared by his predecessors 
in regard to the interference of foreign powers in American affairs. 
He said that the people of the United States could not view with 
indifference the attempts of any European Power to interfere with 
the independent action of the nations on this continent. The sub- 
ject was recommended to the attention of Congress, by the Presi- 
dent, and Senator Allen of Ohio asked leave to introduce into the 
Senate a joint resolution declaratory of the principles by which the 
government of the United States would be governed in regard to 
the interposition of the powers of Europe in the political affairs of 
America. The question upon granting leave came up for discus- 
sion on the 26th of January, 184G. It was long and ably debated 
by the most distinguished men in the Senate. Gen. Cass advoca* 
ted the motion. Messrs. Berrien, Calhoun, Corwin, Crittenden 
and Webster were opposed to it. Gen. Cass' supported the pro- 
position upon the ground that it was the most correct course to 
pursue in reference to the relations of the United States with Eng- 
land — that this country " could lose nothing at home or abroad, 
by establishing and maintaining an American policy — a policy de- 
cisive in its spirit — moderate in its tone, and just in its objects — 
proclaimed and supported firmly, but temperately." Advocating 
the motion he said : — 

" But what is proposed by this resolution ? It proposes, Mr. 
President, to repel a principle which two of the greatest powers of 
the earth are now carrying into practice upon this continent, so far 
as we can discover any principle involved in the war which the 
French and British are now waging against Buenos Ayres ; and a 
principle solemnly announced by the French prime minister in the 
Chamber of Deputies, clearly in doctrine, but cautiously in the re- 
medy. I need not, advert to the declaration made upon that occa- 
sion by M. Guizot, a declaration equally extraordinary and me- 
morable. An honorable member of this body has the debate in 
full ; and I trust that, in the further discussion which this subject 
must undergo, and will undergo in this body in one ft)rm or anoth- 
er, he will read the remarks of the French premier, and give us 
the able views I know he entertains of them. I will only add that 
these remarks are eminently characteristic of a peculiar class of 
statesmen, who are always seeking some new and brilliant thought, 
something with which to dazzle the world as much as it dazzles 
themselves — some paradox or other as a shroud wherewith to wrap 



■228 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

tlieir dying frame. Plain common sense, and the true condition 
of men and communities, are lost in diplomatic subtleties. 

But what is this balance of power which is to cross the Atlantic 
and take up its abode in this New World ? It is the assumption 
of a power which has deluged Europe in blood, and which has at- 
tempted to stifle the first germs of freedom in every land where 
they have started up ; which has blotted Poland from the map of 
nations ; which has given a moiety of Saxony, in spite of the pray- 
ers of the people, to Prussia ; which has extinguished Venice and 
Genoa ; which added Belgium to Holland, notwithstanding the re- 
pugnance of its inhabitants, who eventually rose in their revolu- 
tionary might, and asserted and achieved their own independence ; 
which transferred Norway from Denmark, to which it was attach- 
ed by old ties and by a mild government, to Sweden, who had to 
send an army, and to call upon the navy of England to aid her to 
take possession of this gift of the holy alliance ;• which keeps Switz- 
erland in eternal turmoil, and which sent a French army into Spain 
to put down the spirit of liberty, and an Austrian army to Italy for 
the same purpose ; and which watches and wards off the very first 
instincts of human nature to meliorate its social and political con- 
dition. 

It is the assumption of a power which enables five great nations 
of Europe — they are quintuple at present — to govern just as much 
of the world as will not or cannot resist their cupidity and ambi- 
tion, and to introduce new principles at their pleasure, and to their 
profit, into the code of nations. To proclaim that the slave trade 
is piracy by virtue of their proclamation, and that their cruisers 
may sweep the ocean, seizing vessels, and crews, and cargoes, and 
committing them to that great vortex which has swallowed up such 
a vast amount of our property, and issued so many decrees against 
our rights — a court of admiralty ; and, by-and-by, will enable them 
to proclaim, if not resisted, that the cotton trade shall be piracy, 
or that the tobacco trade shall be piracy, or that anything else shall 
be piracy which ministers to our power and interest, and does not 
minister to theirs. 

I understand the measure proposed by the Senator from Ohio 
is a protest against the establishment of a new and dangerous prin- 
ciple, affecting ourselves, and with us the other independent na- 
tions inhabiting this continent. It does not necessarily involve 
any question of war. Such a protest is a common mode of proce- 
dure in the intercourse of nations. It is the exclusion of a conclu- 
sion. It is saying to the world, that the Government making the 
protest does not recognise a certain claim or principle, and does 
not intend to be bound by it. It commits such Government to no 
specific course of action. It merely expresses its dissent, leaving 
to future circumstances its conduct, should the protest be found 
inefficient. 

I have already alluded to Buenos Ayres, where France and Eng- 
land are now interfering to their heart's content. Their conduct 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 229 

upon the La Plata is among the most outrageous acts of modern 
times. If I understand their professions, they wage war against 
Buenos Ayres, because Buenos Ayres is at war wiih Montevide6. 
They are fighting for peace ; doing evi! that good may come. But 
what right have they to interfere in the quarrel between two inde- 
pendent nations, except as the friend of both, and in the interest 
of both ? They come not, however, with the oKve-branch, but 
with fleets and armies. They carry on open war ; they preach 
a crusade of philanthropy from the quarter-decks of ships of the 
line, and from the midst of regiments of soldiers. Now all this is 
a flimsy veil to conceal far other designs of commercial and poli- 
tical ascendancy upon the immense and productive countries of 
that great river. They seek the establishment of a balance of pow- 
er, which shall establish their own power, and enable them to hold 
in subjection one of the most magnificent regions upon the face 
of the earth. To give proper weight and solemnity to any mea- 
sure upon this great question under consideration, requires the 
action of Conorress. The declaration of the President will be as 
barren as was that of Mr. Monroe unless adopted by the national 
legislature. The President is the organ of communication with 
other governments. But the establishment of a great line of policy 
calls into action powers not committed to him, and which can only 
be exercised by the representatives of the States and the represen- 
tatives of the people assembled in Congress. 

Mr. President, we shall lose nothing at home or abroad, now or 
hereafter, by establishing and maintaining an American policy — a 
policy decisive in its spirit, moderate in its tone, and just in its 
objects — proclaimed and supported firmly, but temperately. Pro- 
vidence has placed us at the head of the family of nations upon this 
continent. We have passed safely through the great revolutiona- 
ry trial from a colonial to an independent condition. "We entered 
upon it with great advantages. The principles of true freedom 
were brought by our forefathers to the New World, and when the 
struggle for independence commenced, it found us not only ready 
for the is.sue, but ripe for the blessings of self-government. But 
the colonies of Spanish descent had not served, as we had done, 
the apprenticeship of liberty; and when they were suddenly called 
to dissolve their original political connexion, and to reconstruct 
their civil institutions, they encountered difliculties which seemed 
at times to threaten the overthrow of all their hopes. Their state 
of transition is not yet fully over ; but they will struggle on till 
their work is crowned with success. In the meantime, it is equal- 
ly our policy and our duty to preserve the continent as free from 
European influence as is compatible with the acknowledged prin- 
ciples of the laws of nations. The community of States inhabiting 
it have interests of their own, independent of the peculiar state of 
things which is established in Europe. There is here no question 
touching the joint rights of others — none of interfering with the 
colonial possessions of the European Ppwers — none of denying 



230 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

their right to establish all the relations of peace they please with 
this continent, nor of changing these to relations of war when they 
think just cause of war exists, followed, in that case, by all the 
rights which a state of hostilities brings with it. But it is a ques- 
tion of applying to America an artificial system built up in Europe 
within the last century and a half, which the most careless observer 
of history well knows has neither diminished the number nor the 
•extent of wars, nor increased the stability of independent States, 
nor promoted the happiness of mankind. A system of power built 
up in reality for the maintenance of monarchical institutions, un- 
der the guise of maintaining a necessary political equilibrium. 
Now, sir, I hope we shall be satisfied with our own good things, 
without preaching any system of political propagandism. If other 
people prefer monarchical to republican institutions, so be it. We 
have no right to quarrel with their decision, however much we may 
differ from their views. The world is wide enough for them and 
us. But we have a right to expect that no undue means be taken, 
under any pretence whatever, to assail the existing institutions 
upon this hemisphere, or to exert any influence to change them, 
or to interfere at all with its political condition. This is the object 
of the Senator from Ohio; and it is an object worthy of the atten- 
tion and action of Congress, and of the approbation of the country. 

Why need we be so peculiarly sensitive upon this question ? — 
for I see it has excited some sensation in various quarters. No 
one doubts our right to respond to the declaration of the Presi- 
dent. No one can dispute its importance. No gentleman, I am 
sure, upon the floor of the Senate, has the least wish to conciliate 
England by a self-restraining policy. Mild words, we are told by 
the wise man, turn away wrath. It may be so; bat they never yet 
turned away cupidity or ambition. I do not see that the English 
statesmen are very regardful of the feelings of this country, either 
in the measures they adopt or in the language they employ. Lord 
John Russell, who has recently been called to the head of the Brit- 
ish Administration, but which position he could not hold, in his 
comments upon the President's declaration respecting Oregon, in 
April last, called it blustering ; and I did not observe that this 
coarse epithet drew upon the speaker the least censure from Par- 
liament, or the people, or the press. I have seen no such epithet 
applied here to the language of the British Queen, nor even of the 
British Cabinet, though my experience tells me that, had such been 
the case, there is many a journal in this country which would have 
visited it with strong rebuke. But Lord John Russell lays him- 
self liable to a severe retort when he says, in that very speech : 
" For my own part, I will say, in all moderation, that I am not 
prepared to say that this country ought to put forward any arrogant 
pretensions." 

Precious moderation this ! What can be more arrogant than to 
claim moderation because a country is not prepared to put for ward 
arrogant pretensions ? If this be the moderation of England, what 
would be her arrooance ? 

O 



LirE OF GENERAL CASS. 231 

Look at the state of things in Brazil ! The treaty between that 
country and England on the subject of the right of search has ex- 
pired. But has the right expired also ? It has, but not the prac- 
tice. England yet stops, with the strong hand, Brazilian ships, 
wherever she finds them in tropical latitudes, and seizes and sends 
them to her own courts of admiralty for condemnation. And this 
in utter contempt of all the laws regulating the rights of indepen- 
dent nations. 

I allude to all these facts, because they ought to warn us of our 
duty. I allude to them, in despite of the charge, which has been, 
and will again be made — out of the Senate, not in it — of a desire 
to excite undue prejudice against England. I have no such desire. 
But I have a desire that my own country should be aware of her 
true position, and should be prepared to meet her responsibility, 
whatever difficulties may beset her path — prepared, sir, in head, 
in hand, and in heart. Yes, sir, notwithstanding the severe com- 
mentaries which a casual expression of the honorable Senator from 
Ohio has encountered from a portion of the public press, I will 
repeat the expression — prepared in the heart. For if war should 
come, which may Providence avert, I trust the hearts of our coun- 
trymen will be prepared for the struggle it will bring. There is 
no better preparation, nor any surer cause or augury of success. 
When I read the President's Message, sir, I found four princi- 
pal statements or suggestions which seemed to me to render our 
relations with England exceedingly critical ; so critical, indeed, 
as to demand the immediate attention and action of Congress, and 
the solemn consideration of the country. The President stated, 
in effect, that the negotiations with England on the subject of Ore- 
gon were closed ; that we had a clear title to the whole of it ;that 
the year's notice for the termination of the convention ought be 
given; and that we should then take exclusive possession of the 
whole country. I do not quote the words, but these are substan- 
tially the views of the President. Now, sir, it was clear to me 
that here was a state of things which might well excite the solici- 
tude of any man in the unprepared condition of the country, and 
yet what vials of wrath have been poured out upon the heads of all 
the Senators whose measures really tended to avert war by prepar- 
ing for it. The mails are loaded with abusive anonymous letters, 
because they believe the country is in danger, and believing so, 
say so, and thus saying and believing, strive to prepare for the 
worst, still hoping, though sometimes against hope, for the best. 

I expressed my approbation of the President's Message ; but on 
the subject of the state of the country, 1 did not say one word more 
than I intended and intend now. I am no lover of war. I am no 
seeker of it. But I have to learn that it is hastened by adequate 
preparation. I have passed through one war, and hope never to 
see another. Still I shall never cry peace, peace, unless I believe 
there is truly peace. The honorable Senator from Kentucky, 
whom I first met many years ago, marching to the battle-field, and 



232 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

who will always be found on the side of his country, supposed, 
when the question of the national defence was under discussion, I 
had said war was inevitable. He misunderstood me. I consider- 
ed the danger of war imminent, not inevitable. Had I thought it 
inevitable, I should not have submitted propositions for inquiry, 
but decisive measures for adoption. I hold on firmly, sir, to every 
word I said before, neither softening nor explaining ; but denying, 
because I apprehended we might have war, therefore I desired it. 
And I still consider danger imminent, not diminished, so far as I 
know, by the recent arrival. The subject in controversy remains 
precisely as it was. The question was, and is, whether we shall 
surrender to the Kritish demands, or whether the British Govern- 
ment shall surrender to ours. If no such cession is made by either 
party, the two countries will be brought into conflict. 1 see no 
indication that one or the other will sufficiently yield. 

It is not men, but fears and facts, that make panics in this coun- 
try, if I must adopt that word. But I repudiate it as applicable 
to the great body of the American peoj)le. They feel no panic 
They feel anxiety, no doubt, but determination also — a hope that 
England will do us justice, and, if not, a determination to do jus- 
tice to themselves. 

I must ask the indulgence of the Senate for alluding to this top- 
ic at this time. I do so with the deep conviction that all other 
legislative measures should give way to measures of defence, and 
in the hope that such will be the action of Congress. Then, if 
war comes, we shall have no self-reproach to meet, and if peace is 
preserved, what we do will be well done for a similar future con- 
tingency, which no nation can expect long to avoid." 

The motion was adopted and leave granted to the senator from 
Ohio to introduce the proposed resolution. The resolution in 
substance provided that. Congress, concurring with the President, 
and sensible that a time had arrived when the government of the 
United States could no longer remain silent without being ready to 
submit to, and even to invite, the enforcement of the dangerous Eu- 
ropean doctrine of the "balance of power," solemnly declare 
to the civilized world the unalterable resolution of the United 
States to adhere to and enforce the principle, that any effort of the 
Powers of Europe to intermeddle in the social organization or 
political arrangements of the independent nations of America, or 
further to extend the European system of government upon this 
continent by the establishment of new colonies, would be incom- 
patible with the independent existence of the nations, and danger- 
ous to the liberties of the people of America, and therefore would 
incur, as by the right of self-preservation it would justify, the 
prompt resistance of the United States. 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 233 

At this session of Congress the Oregon question came up for 
discussion. By convention between the governments of the Uni- 
ted States and Great Britain, made the twentieth day of October, 
1818, for the period of ten years, and afterwards indefinitely ex- 
tended and continued in force by another convention of the same 
parties, concluded the sixth day of August, 1827, it was agreed, 
that any country that was claimed by either party on the north- 
west coast of America, west of the Stony or Rocky mountains, 
commonly called the Oregon Territory, should, together with its 
harbors, bays, and creeks, and the navigation of all rivers within 
the same, be "free and open" to the vessels, citizens, and subjects 
of the two Powers, but without prejudice to any claim which eith- 
er of the parties might have to any part of said country ; and with 
this further provision in the third article of the said convention of 
the sixth of August, 1827, that either party might abrogate and 
annul the said convention, on giving due notice of twelve months 
to the other contracting party. 

This acrreement was entered into because the governments of 
the two countries were unable to settle definitely, by negotiation, 
their respective claims to territory in Oregon. In the attempts 
that had been made to adjust the controversy, the United States 
had offered to Great Britain the parallel of the forty-ninth degree 
of north latitude, with the concession of the free navigation of the 
Columbia river, south of that degree. Great Britain, on her part, 
offered to the United States, the same parallel of latitude from the 
Rocky mountains to its intersection with the north-easternmost 
branch of the Columbia river, and thence down that river to the 
sea, together with a small detached territory north of the Columbia. 
Both parties respectively rejected the propositions. 

In 1843 the United States minister in London was authorized to 
renew the offer previously made to Great Britain, and while the sub- 
ject was under consideration the negotiation was transferred to the 
city of Washington. The English minister, in August 1844, open- 
ed the negotiation at Washington, by renewing the offer before 
made to the United States, with the addition of Free Ports 
'south of forty-nine degrees. This proposition, which would give 
Great Britain two-thirds of the entire territory, including the free 
navigation of the Columbia, and the harbors on the Pacific ocean, 
was promptly rejected by the United States. 



234 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

No other attempt at compromise was made on the part of either 
until the effort made by President Polk to settle the controversy 
amicably and satisfactorily. A proposition was made, which was 
jejected by the British minister, and no further attempt being made 
by that functionary, the President directed the withdrawal of his 
offer, and asserted the right of the United States to the whole of 
Oregon. This pz-oceeding, having a tendency to bring the dispute 
to a close, the President urged upon Congress the necessity of 
terminating, by proper notice, the effect of the agreement entered 
into in 1818, in regard to joint occupation. 

On the 18th or December, Mr. Allen, of Ohio, offered a joint 
resolution in the Senate, for the purpose of carrying into effect the 
recommendation of the President. It was referred to the com- 
mittee on Foreign Relations, of which Mr. Allen was chairman, 
and was reported back to the senate in the following form by the 
committee : 

Joint Resoluiion to annul mid abrogate the convention of the sixth 
day of Augast, eighteen hundred and twenty-seven, between the 
United States of America and Great Britain, relative to the 
country westward of the S:ony or Rocky mountains. 

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, That, in virtue 
of the second article of the convention of the sixth of August, 
eighteen hundred and twenty-seven, between the United States of 
America and Great Britain, relative to the country westward of 
the Stony or Rocky mountains, the United States of America do 
now think fit to annul and abrogate that convention, and the said 
convention is hereby accordingly entirely annulled and abrogated : 
Provided, that this resolution shall take effect after the expiration of 
the term of twelve months from the day on which due notice shall 
have been given to Great Britain of the passage of this resolution. 
And the President of the United States is hereby authorized and re- 
quired to give such notice; and also at the expiration of said con- 
vention, to issue his proclamation setting forth that fact. 

A number of amendments were proposed to this resolution, and 
the 10th of February, 1848, was designated as the time for com- 
mencing the debate thereon. Mr. Allen opened the debate on 
that day, and was followed by other members of the senate, of 
whom nearly all participated in the discussion. On the thirtieth 
day of March, Gen. Cass addressed the senate in favor of the reso- 
lution, without entering into a formal discussion of the title of the 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 



235 



United States to the whole of Oregon. Confining himself princi- 
pally to the necessity and policy of the course suggested by the 
President, he said : 

Mr. President : I do not rise at this late period to enter into 
any formal consideration of the principal topic involved in the 
proposition now pending before the Senate. I cannot flatter my- 
self, that any such effort of mine would be successful, or would 
deserve to be so. I have listened attentively to the progress of this 
discussion, and while I acknowledge my gratification at much I 
have heard, still sentiments have been advanced, and views pre- 
sented, in which I do not concur, and from which, even at the 
hazard of trespassing upon the indulgence of the Senate, I must 
express my dissent, and briefly the reasons of it. But, sir, 1 have 
not the remotest intention of touching the question of the title of 
Oregon. The tribute I bring to that subject is the tribute of con- 
viction, not of discussion ; a concurrence in the views of others, 
not the presentation of my own. The whole m^ter has been 
placed in bold relief before the country and the world by men far 
more competent than I am to do it justice, and justice they have 
done it. The distinguished Senator from South Carolina, who 
filled, a short time since, the ofiice of Secretary of State, has left 
the impress of his talents and intelligence upon his correspond- 
ence with the British Minister, and he left to an able successor to 
finish well a task, which was well begun. And upon this floor, the 
Senator from New-York instructed us, while he gratified us, by a 
masterly vindication of the American title ; and he was followed 
by his colleague, and by the Senator from Illinois, and by others, 
too, who have done honor to themselves, while doing good service 
to their country. 

Before, however, T proceed further in my remarks, there is one 
subject, to which I will make a passing allusion. As to correcting 
the misrepresentations of the day, whether these are voluntary or 
involuntary, he that seeks to do it, only prepares for himself an 
abundant harvest of disappointment, and, I may add, of vexation. 
I seek no such impracticable object. In times like the present, 
when interests are threatened, passions excited, parties animated, 
and when momentous questions present themselves for solution, 
and the public mind is alive to the slightest sensation, we must 
expect, that those, upon whose action depends the welfare, if not 
the destiny, of the country, will be arraigned, and assailed, and 
condemned. I presume we are all prepared for this. We have all 
lived long enough to know, that this is the tax, which our position 
pays to its elevation. We have frequently been reminded, durmg 
the progress of this debate, of the responsibility, which men of 
extreme opinions, as some of us have been called, must encounter, 
and have been summoned to meet it— to meet the consequences of 
the measures we invoke. 

During the course of a public life, now verging towards forty 



236 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

years, I have been placed in many a condition of responsibility ; 
and often, too, where I had few to aid me, and none to consult. 
I have found myself able to march up to my duty, and no respon- 
sibility, in cities or in forests, has been cast upon me, which I have 
not readily met. 

As it is with me, so it is, I doubt not, with my political friends, 
who regard this whole matter as I do, and who are ready to follow 
it to its final issue, whatever or wherever that may be. I submit 
to honorable Senators on the other side of the chamber, whether 
these adjurations are in good taste ; whether it is not fair to pre- 
sume, that we have looked around us, examined what in our judg- 
ment we ought to do, and then determined to do it, come what 
may 1 This great controversy with England cannot be adjusted 
without a deep and solemn responsibility being cast upon all of us. 
If there is a responsibility in going forward, there is a responsi- 
bility in standing still. Peace has its dangers as well as war. 
They are not indeed of the same kind, but they may be more last- 
ing, more dishonorable, and more destructive of the best interests 
of the country ; because destructive of those hopes and sentiments 
which elevate the moral above the material world. Let us then 
leave to each member of this body the course that duty points out 
to him, together with tlie responsibility he must meet, whether ar- 
raigned at the tribunal of his conscience, his constituents, or his 
country. 

I observe, that as well myself, as other Senators, upon this side 
of the Senate have been accused of dealing in ra7it and abuse — 
that I believe is the term — in the remarks we have submitted, from 
time to time, upon the subject, as it came up incidentally or di- 
rectly for consideration. This rant and abuse, of course, had re- 
ference to remarks upon the conduct and pretensions of England. 

I should not have adverted to this topic, had it not been that the 
honorable Senator from North Carolina, [Mr. Haywood,] not now 
in his place, has given color to the charge, by the expression of 
his "mortification in being obliged to concede to the debates in the 
British Parliament a decided superiority over ourselves in their 
dignity and moderation." 

He expressed the hope that "we might get the news by the next 
packet of an outrageous debate in the British Parliament." "At 
least sufficient to put them even with us on that score." 

Now, Mr. President, it is not necessary to wait for the next 
packet for specimens of the courtesies of British Parliamentary 
eloquence. « 

I hold one in my hands, which has been here some time, and 
which, from the circumstances, and from the station of the speak- 
er, I at least may be permitted to refer to, when 1 find myself, 
among others, charged with participating in an outrageous debate, 
and when patriotism would seem to demand an unbecoming exhi- 
bition in the British Parliament, in order to restore, not our digni- 
ty, but our self-complacency. 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 237 

Now, sir, I am a firm believer in the courtesies of life, public 
and private ; and I desire never to depart from them. In all I have 
said, I have not uttered a word, which ought to give offence, even 
to political fastidiousness. I have spoken, to be sure, plainly, as 
became a man dealing in great truths, involving the character and 
interests of his country, but becomingly. I have not, indeed, called 
ambition moderation ; nor cupidity, philanthropy ; nor arrogance, 
humility. Let him do so, who believes them such. But I have 
heard the desire of the West, that the sacred rights of their coun- 
try should be enforced and defended, called loestern avidity , in the 
Senate of the United States ! I have not even imitated Lord 
John Russell, and talked of blusterincr. Still less have I imitated 
a greater than Lord John Russell in talents, and one higher in 
station, though far lower in those qualities, that conciliate respect 
and esteem, and preserve them. 

He who seeks to know the appetite of the British public for 
abuse, and how greedily it is catered for, has but to consult the 
daily columns of the British journals ; but let him, who has per- 
suaded himself that all is decorum in the British Parliament, and 
that these legislative halls are but bear-gardens compared with it, 
turn to the speeches sometimes delivered there. Let him turn to 
a speech delivered by the second man in the realm, by the late 
Lord Chancellor of England, the Thersites indeed of his day and 
country, but with high intellectual !)owers, and a vast stock of in- 
formation, and who no doubt understands the taste of his country- 
men, and knows how to gratify it. 

I have no pleasure in these exhibitions, which lessen the dignity 
of human nature ; but we must look to the dark as well as to the 
bright side of life, if we desire to bring our opinions to the stand- 
ard of experience. Li a debate in the British House of Lords, on 
the 7th of April, 1843, I had the honor to be the subject of the 
vituperation of Lord Brougham ; and an honor I shall esteem it, 
under the circumstances, as long as the honors of this world have 
any interest for me. I shall make no other allusion to the matter 
but what is necessary to the object I have in view, to exhibit the 
style of debate there, so much lauded here, and held up to our 
countrymen as the beau ideal of all that is courteous and dignified 
in political life. "There was one man," said the ex-chancellor, 
"who was the very impersonation of mob hostility to England. 
He wished to name him, that the name might be clear as the guilt 
was undivided. He meant General Cass, whose breach of duty to 
his own Government was so discreditable, and even more flagrant 
than his breach of duty to humanity as a man, and as the free de- 
scendent of free English parents, atid whose conduct in all those 
particulars it was impossible to pass over or palliate. This person, 
who had been sent to maintain peace, and to reside at Paris for 
that purpose, after pacific relations had been established between 
France and America, did his best to break it, whether by the cir- 
culation of statements upon the question of international law, of 



238 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

which he had no more conception than of the languages that were 
spoken in the moon, [loud laughter,"] (this sarcasm provoked their 
grave lordships to merriment,) "or by any other arguments of rea- 
son, for which he had no more capacity, than he had for under- 
standing legal points and differences." "For that purpose he was 
not above pandering to the worst mob feeling of the United 
States" — "a laioless set of rabble politicians of inferior caste and 
station" — "a grovelling, groundling set of politicians'^ — "a set 
of mere rabble, as contradistinguished from persons of property, 
or respectability, and of information" — ''groundlings in sta- 
tion,'' Sfc. 

And I am thus characterized by this modest and moderate En- 
glish Lord, because I did what little was in my power to defeat one 
of the most flagitious attempts of modern times to establish a do- 
minion over the seas, and which, under the pretext of abolishing 
the slave trade, and by virtue of a quintuple treaty, would have 
placed the flag, and ships, and seamen of our country, at the dis- 
posal of England. 

Lord Brougham did not always talk thus— not when one of his 
friends applied to me in Paris to remove certain unfavorable im- 
pressions aiade in a high quarter by one of those imprudent and 
impulsive remarks, which seem to belong to his moral habits. The 
effort was successful. And now my account of good for evil with 
Lord Brougham is balanced. 

It is an irksome task to cull expressions like these, and repeat 
them here. 1 hold them up not as a warning — that is not needed 
— but to repel the intimation, that we ought to study the courtesies 
of our position in the British Parliament. 

When I came here, sir, I felt it due to myself to arraign no one's 
motives, but to yield the same credit for integrity of action to oth- 
ers, which I claimed for myself. The respect I owed to those who 
sent me here, and to those to whom I was sent, equally dictated 
this course. If some of us, as has been intimated, are small men, 
who have attained high places, if we have no other claim to this 
false distinction, I hope we shall at least establish that claim, which 
belongs to decorum of language and conduct, to life and conver- 
sation. We all occupy positions here high enough, and useful 
enough, if usefully filled, to satisfy the measure of any man's am- 
bition. It ought to be our pride and our effort to identify ourselves 
with this representative body of the sovereignties of the States. 
With this great depository of^ so much of the power of the Ameri- 
can people in the three great departments of their government, 
executive, legislative, and judicial — to establish an esprit du corps, 
which, while it shall leave us free to fulfil our duties, whether to 
our country or to our party, shall yet unite us in a determination 
to discard everything, which can diminish the influence, or lessen 
the dignity, of the Senate of the United States. While I have 
the honor of a seat here, I will do nothing to counteract these 
views. I will bandy words of reproach with no one. And the 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 239 

same measure of courtesy I am prepared to mete to others, I trust 
■will be meted by others to me. At any rate, if they are not, I will 
have no contention in this chamber. 

I have regretted many expressions which have been heard dur- 
ing the progress of this discussion. Faction, demagogues, ultra 
patriots, ambitious leaders, infiammator}j appeals, invective, little 
men seeking to be great ones, and other terms and epithets, not 
pleasant to hear, and still less pleasant to repeat. Now, sir, noth- 
ing is easier than a bitter retort ; and he who impugns the motives 
of others, cannot complain, if he is accused of measuring them 
by his own standard, and seeking, in his own breast, their rule of 
action. If one portion of the Senate is accused of being ultra on 
the side of their country's pretensions, how easy to retort the 
charge by accusing the accusers of being ultra on the other ? But 
what is gained by this war of words ? Nothing. On the contrary, 
we lower our dignity as Senators, and our character as men. For 
myself, I repudiate it all. 1 will have no part nor lot in it. I ques- 
tion the motives of no honorable Senator. I believe we have all 
one common object — the honor and interest of our country. We 
differ as to the best means of action, and that difference is one of 
the tributes due to human fallibility. But there is no exclusive 
patriotism, on one side or other of this body ; and I hope there will 
be no exclusive claim to it. 

Some days since, in an incidental discussion, which sprung up, 
I remarked that I could not perceive why the parallel of 49 de- 
grees was assumed as the boundary of our claim. Why any man 
planted his foot on that suppositious line upon the face of the globe, 
and erecting a barrier there, said, all to the north belong to Eng- 
land, and all to the south to the United States. My remark was 
merely the expression of ray views, without touching the reasons 
on wh'ch thev w-ere founded. The honorable Senators from 
Maine, and Maryland, and Georgia, have since called in question 
the accuracy of this opinion, and have entered somewhat at length 
into the considerations, which prove that line the true line of de- 
marcation between the two countries. And the Senator from 
North Carolina [Mr. Haywood] lays much stress upon this mat- 
ter, making it in fact the foundation of a large portion of his ar- 
gument. That parallel is, in his view, the wall of separation be- 
tween our questionable and our unquestionable claims. To the 
south he would not yield ; to the north he would, though he thinks 
that even there our title is the best. There is an erroneous im- 
pression upon this subject somewhere, either with the idlra, or (if 
I may coin a word) the un-ultra advocates of Oregon ; and as this 
line seems to be a boundary, beyond which we may look, indeed, 
and wish, but must not go, it is worth while to examine summarily 
what are its real pretensions to the character thus assumed for it, 
of being the line of contact and of separation between two great 
nations. 

There is no need of discussing the right of civilized nations to 



240 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

appropriate to themselves countries, newly discovered and inhabi- 
ted by barbarous tribes. The principle and the practice have been 
sanctioned by centuries of experience. What constitutes this right 
of appropriation, so as to exclude other nations from its exercise 
in a given case, is a question, which has been differently settled in 
different ages of the world. At one time it was the Pope's bull 
which conferred the title ; at another it was discovery only ; then 
settlement under some circumstances, and under others discovery; 
and then settlement and discovery combined. There has been 
neither a uniform rule, nor a uniform practice. But under any 
circumstances, it is not easy to see why a certain parallel of lati- 
tude is declared to be the boundary of our claim. If the valley 
of a river were assumed, a principle might be also assumed, which 
would shut us up in it. This would be a natural and a tangible 
boundary. How, indeed, England could look to her own practice 
and acquisitions, and say to us, you are slopped by this hill, or by 
that valley, or by that river, I know not. England, whose colonial 
charters extended from the Atlantic to the South sea, as the Pacific 
ocean was then called, and who actually ejected the French from 
the country between the mountains and the Mississippi, where they 
had first established themselves, upon the very ground that their 
own rights of discovery, as shown by these charters, ran indefi- 
nitely west; and who now holds the continent of Australia — a re- 
gion large: than Europe — by virtue of the right oi^ discovery; or, 
in other words, because Captain Cook sailed along a portion of its 
coast, and occasionally hoisted a pole, or buried a bottle. I am 
well aware there must be limits to this conventional title, by which 
new countries are claimed ; nor will it be always easy to assign 
them in fact, as they cannot be assigned in principle. We claim 
the Oregon territory. The grounds of this claim are before the 
world. The country it covers extends from California to the Rus- 
sian possessions, and from the Rocky mountains to the Pacific 
ocean, — a homogeneous country, unclaimed by England, when our 
title commenced, similar in its character, its productions, its cli- 
mate, its interests, and its wants, in all that constitutes natural 
identity, and by these elements of union, calculated forever to be 
united together, — no more to be divided by the parallel of 49 de- 
grees, nor by any of the geographical circles marked upon artifi- 
cial globes. No more to be so divided, than any of the posses- 
sions of England, scattered over the world. In thus claiming the 
whole of this unappropriated country, unappropriated when our 
title attached to it, the valley of the Columbia, the valley of Fra- 
zer's river, and all the other hills and vallies which diversify its 
surface, we but follow the example set us by the nations of the 
other hemisphere, and hold on to the possession of a country, which 
is one, and ought to be indivisible. 

It is contended that this parallel of 49 degrees is the northern 
boundary of our just claim, because for many years it was assu- 
med as such by our Government, and that we are bound by its ear- 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 24i 

ly course in this controversy; that the treaty of Utrecht, in 1713, 
between France and England, provided for the appointment of 
commissioners, to establish a line of division between tlieir respec- 
tive colonies upon the continent of North America, and that this 
parallel of 49 degrees was thus established. The honorable Sena- 
tor from Georgia, in his remarks a few days since, if he did not 
abandon this pretension, still abandoned all reference to it, in the 
support of his position. He contended, that the parallel of 49 
degrees was our boundary, but for other reasons. In the view I 
am now taking, sir, my principal object, as will be seen, is to show 
that we are at full liberty to assert our claim to the country north 
of 49 degrees, unembarrassed by the early action of our own Gov- 
ernment, by showing that the Government was led into error re- 
specting its rights by an historical statement, probably inaccurate 
in itself, certainly inaccurate, if applied to Oregon, but then sup- 
posed to be true in both respects. Now, what was this error? It 
was the assertion I have just mentioned, that agreeably to the treaty 
of Utrecht, the parallel of 49 degrees was established as a boun- 
dary, and having be^^n continued west, had become the northern 
limit of Oregon — at least of our Oregon. Upon this ground, and 
upon this ground alone, rested the actions and the pretensions of 
our Government in this matter. So far then, as any question of 
national faith or justice is involved in this subject, we must test 
the proceedings of the Government by its own views, not by other 
considerations presented here at this day. The Government of 
the United States gave to that of Great Britain their claim, and 
their reasons for it. That claim first stopped at 49 degrees, while 
the treaty of Utrecht was supposed to affect it, as part of Louisi- 
ana, and before we had acquired another title by the acquisition of 
Florida. Since then, it has been ascertained that that treaty never* 
extended to Oregon ; and we have strengthened and perfected our 
claim by another purchase. It is for these reasons, that I confine 
myself to what has passed between the two Governments, with a 
view to ascertain our present obligations, and omit the considera- 
tions presented by the honorable Senator from Georgia. I will 
barely remark, however, that in the far most important fact to 
■which he refers, as affectingr the extent of our claim — to wit : the 
latitude of the source of the Columbia river — he is under a mis- 
apprehension. He put it at 49 degrees. But it is far north of 
that. It is navigable by canoes to the Three Forks, about the 
latitude of 52 degrees. How far beyond that is its head sprang, I 
know not. 

Mr. Greenhow, in his work on Oregon — a work marked with 
talent, industry, and caution — has explained how tliis misappre- 
hension respecting the parallel of 49 degrees originated. He has 
brought forward proofs, both positive and negative, to show that no 
such line was established by the treaty of Utrecht, nor by commis- 
saries, named to carry its provisions into effect. I shall not go 
over the subject, but beg leave to refer the gentlemen, who main- 

16 



242 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

tain the cohtrary opinion, to the investigations they will find in 
that work. The assertion, however, has been so peremptorily 
made, and the conclusions drawn from it, if true, and if the line 
extended to Oregon, would discredit so large a portion of our title 
to that country, that I may be pardoned for briefly alluding to one 
or two considerations, which seem to me to demonstrate the error 
respecting this assumed line of parallel of 49 degrees, at any rate 
in its extension to Oregon. 

It will be perceived, sir, that there are two questions involved 
in this matter ; one a purely historical question, whether commis- 
saries acting under the trea(y of Utrecht, established the parallel 
of 49 degrees as the boundary between the French and English 
possessions upon this continent ; and the other a practical one, 
whether such a line was extended west to the Pacific ocean. 

As to the first, sir, I refer honorable Senators to Mr. Greenhow's 
work, and to the authorities he quotes. 1 do not presume to speak 
authoritatively upon the question, but I do not hesitate to express 
my opinion that Mr. Greenhow has made out a strong case; and 
my own impression is, that such a line was not actually and offi- 
cially established. Still, sir, I do not say that it is a point, upon 
which there may not be diflferences of opinion ; nor that, however 
it may be ultimately determined, the solution of the matter will 
discredit the judgment of any one. This, however, has relation to 
the line terminating with the Hudson Bay possessions ; and as I 
have observed, the fact is a mere question of history, without the 
least bearing upon our controversy with England. 

I have, however, one preliminary remark to make in this con- 
nexion, and it is this : let him who asserts that our claim vvest of 
the Rocky mountains is bounded by the parallel of 49 degrees, 
prove it. The burden is upon him, not upon us. If commissaries 
under the treaty of Utrecht established it, produce their award. 
Proof of it, if it exists, is to be found in London or Paris. Such 
an act 'was not done without leaving the most authentic evidence 
behind it. Produce it. When was the award made ? What were 
its terms? What were its circumstances? Why, a suit between 
man and man for an inch of land, would not be decided by such 
evidence as this, especially discredited as it is, in any court of the 
United States. The party claiming under it would be told. There 
isi letter evidence in your poioer. Seek it in London or Paris, and 
Iring forward the certified copy of the proceedings of the commis- 
sioners. This is equally the dictate of common sense and of com- 
mon law, and there is not always the same union between those 
high tribunals, as many know, to their cost. Let no man, there- 
fore, assume this line as a barrier to his country's claim without 
proving it. 

This line is first historically made known in the negotiations be- 
tween our Government and tBM of England by Mr. Madison, in a 
dispatch to Mr. Monroe in 1804. Mr. Madison alludes to an his- 
torical notice he had somewhere found, stating that commissioners 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 243 

under the treaty of Utrecht had established the line of 49 degrees 
as the boundary of the British and French possessions, thus fixing 
that parallel as the northern boundary of Louisiana. I have exam- 
ined this dispatch, and I find that lie speaks doubtfully respecting 
the authenticity of this notice ; and desires Mr. Monroe, before 
he made it the basis of a proposition, to aipcertain if the facts were 
truly stated, as the means of doing so were not to be found in this 
country. Mr. Monroe, however, could have made no investiga- 
tion ; or, if he did so, it must have been unsatisfactory, for he 
transmits the proposition substantially in the words of the historian 
Douglass, from whom, probably, Mr. Madison acquired this notice, 
without reference to any authority, either historical or diplomatic. 

I cannot find, that the British Government ever took the slight- 
est notice of the assertion respecting this incident, growing out of 
the treaty of Utrecht, though it has been referred to more than 
once by our diplomatic agents, in their communications to the Bri- 
tish authorities since that period. 

But in late years, it has disappeared from the correspondence, 
and neither party has adverted to it, nor relied upon it. It is 
strange, indeed, that in this body we should now assume the exist- 
ence "of a fact like this, supposed to have a most important bear- 
ing upon the rights of the parties, when the able men to whose 
custody the maintenance of these rights has been recently com- 
mitted, have totally abandoned it in their arguments and illustra- 
tions. The assumption was originally an erroneous one — certainly 
so, so far as respects Oregon ; but while it was believed to be true, 
the consequences were rightfully and honestly carried out by our 
Government, and the line was claimed as a boundary. But our 
Government is now better informed, as the BritishGovernment, no 
doubt always were, and thence their silence upon the subject; and 
the titles of both parties are investigated without reference to this 
historicl error ,or to the position in which it temporarily placed them. 

The treaty of Utrecht never refers to the parallel of 49 degrees, 
and the boundaries it proposed to establish were those between the 
French and English colonies, including the Hudson Bay Company" 
in Canada. The charter of the Hudson Bay Company granted to 
the proprietors all the ''lands, countries and territories," upon the 
waters discharging themselves into Hudson's Bay. At the date of 
the treaty of Utrecht, which was in 1713, Great Britain claimed 
nothing west of those "lands, countries and territories," and of 
course there was nothing to divide between her and France west 
of that line. 

Again, in 1713, the northwestern coast was almost a terra incog- 
nita — a blank upon the map of the world. England then neither 
knew a foot of it, nor claimed a foot of it. By adverting to the 
letter of Messrs. Gallatin and Rush, communicating an account of 
their interview with Messrs. Goulburn and Robinson, British com- 
missioners, dated October 20th, 1818, and to the letter of Mr. Pa- 
kenham to Mr. Calhoun, dated September 12th, 1844, it will be 



244 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

seen that the commencement of the British claim is effectively 
limited to the discoveries of Captain Cook in 1778. How, then, 
could a boundary have been established fifty years before, in a re- 
gion where no Englishman.had ever penetrated, and to which Eng- 
land had never asserted a pretension? And yet the assumption, 
that the parallel of 49 degrees was established by the treaty of 
Utrecht, as a line between France and England, in those unknown 
regions, necessarily involves these inconsistent conclusions. But 
besides, if England, as a party to the treaty of Utrecht, established 
this line running to the western ocean as the northern boundary of 
Louisiana, what possible claim has she now south of that line ? 
The very fact of her existing pretensions, however unfounded these 
may be, shows that she considers herself no party to such a line 
of division. It shows, in fact, that no line was run ; for if it had 
been, the evidence of it would be in the English archives, and, in 
truth, would be known to the world without contradiction. The 
establishment of a boundary between two great nations is no hid- 
den fact ; and we may now safely assume, that the parallel of 49 
degrees never divided the Oregon territory, and establishes no bar- 
rier to the rights by which we claim it. The assertion was origi- 
nally a mere dictum, now shown to be unfounded. 

The Senator from Maine has adverted likewise to the treaty of 
1763, as furnishing additional testimony in favor of this line. 
That treaty merely provdes, that the confines between the British 
and French dominions shall be fixed irrevocably by a line drawn 
along the middle of the river Mississippi, from its source, &c. 
This is the whole provision that bears upon this subject. I do not 
stop to analyze it. That cannot be necessary. It is obvious that 
this arrangement merely established the Mississippi river as a 
boundary between the two countries, leaving their other claims 
precisely as they formerly existed. And this, too, was fifteen 
years before the voyage of Captain Cook, the commencement of 
the British title on the northwest coast. Briefly, sir, there are six 
reasons, which prove that this parallel was never established un- 
der the treaty of Utrecht, so far at least as regards Oregon. 

1. It is not shown that any line was established on the parallel 
of 49 to the Pacific ocean. 

If the fact be so, the proper evidence is at Paris or London, and 
should be produced. 

2. The country on the northwestern coast was then unknown; 
and I believe unclaimed ; or^ at any rate, no circumstances had 
arisen to call in question any claim to it. 

3. The British negotiators in 1826, and their Minister here in 
1844, fixed, in effect, upon the voyage of Captain Cook in 1778, 
as the commencement of the British title in what is now called 

Oregon. 

4. The treaty of Utrecht provides for the establishment of a line 
between the French and English colonies, including the Hudson 
Bay Company. The British held nothing west of that company's 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 245 

possessions, which, by the charter, includes only the "lands, coun- 
tries and territories," on the waters running into Hudson's Bay. 

5. If England established the line to the Pacific ocean, she caa 
have no claim south of it ; and this kind of argumentum ad homi- 
nem becomes conclusive. And, let me add, that I owe this argu- 
ment to my friend from Missouri, [Mr. Atchison,] to whose re- 
marks upon Oregon the Senate listened with profit and pleasure 
some days since. 

6. How could France and England claim the country to the Pa- 
cific, so as to divide it between them in 1730, when, as late as 
1790, the British Government, by the Nootka convention, express- 
ly recognized the Spanish title to that country, and claimed only 
the use of it for its own subjects, in common with those of Spain ? 

I now ask, sir, what right has any American statesman, or what 
right has any British statesman, to contend that our claim, what- 
ever it may be, is not just as good north of this line as it is south 
of it. When this question is answered to my satisfaction, I, for 
one, will consent to stop there. But until then, I am among those 
who mean to march, if we can, to the Russian boundary. 

Now, Mr. President, it is the very ground assumed by the Sena- 
tor from North Carolina, and by other Senators, respecting this 
parallel of 49 degrees, together with the course of this discussion, 
which furnishes me with the most powerful argument against the 
reference of this controversy to arbitration. 

I have shown, I trust, that there is no such line of demarcation, 
established under the treaty of Utrecht, extending to the Oregon 
territory, and the misapprehension, whence the opinion arose. 

While such a conviction prevailed, it was fairly and properly 
assumed by the Government as the northern boundary of the Ore- 
gon claim, before the Florida treaty. Since that treaty I consider 
the offers on our part as offers of compromise, not recognitions of 
a line, from the resumption of negotiations by Mr. Rush, who car- 
ried our title to 51 degrees, to their abandonment in 1827 by Mr. 
Gallatin, who, finding a satisfactory adjustment impossible, with- 
drew the pending oiler, and asserted that his Government "would 
consider itself at liberty to contend for the full extent of the claims 
of the United States." And for their full extent we do claim. 
And I take the opportunity to tender my small tribute of approba- 
tion to the general conduct of these negotiations by the American 
Government, and their commissioners, and especially to Mr.' Rush, 
a citizen as well known for his private worth as for his high talents 
and great public services, and who seems to have been the first, 
as Mr. Greenhow remarks, "to inquire carefully into the facts of 
the case." 

And it is not one of the least curious phases of this controversy, 
that down to this very day the pretensions of England are either 
wholly contradictory, or are shrouded in apparently studied obscu- 
rity. She asserts no exclusive claim anywhere, but an equal claim 
everywhere. 



246 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

"A right of joint occupancy in the Oregon territory," says the 
British Minister in his letter to Mr .Calhoun, dated September 12th, 
1844, "of which right she can be divested with respect to any part 
of that territory, only by an equal partition of the whole between 
the parties." 

And yet, notwithstanding he refers to the whole territory, still, 
in the protocol of the conference at Washington, dated Septem- 
ber 12th, 1844, he refused to enter into any discussion respecting 
the country north of 49 degrees, because it was understood by the 
British Government to form the basis of negotiation on the part of 
the United States. Thus, on the 12th of September, recognizing 
our right to an equal, undivided moiety of Oregon, and two weeks 
after coolly claiming the northern half of it, as a fact not even to 
be called into question, and then offering to discuss with us the 
mutual claims of the two countries to the southern half! 

Well, sir, influenced by the motives I have stated, and by a de- 
sire lo terminate this tedious controversy, this parallel of 49 de- 
grees, sometimes without an accessory, has been four times offer- 
ed by us to the British Government, and four times rejected, and 
once indignantly so ; and three times withdrawn. Twice with- 
drawn in the very terms — once by Mr. Gallatin, November 15th, 
1826, who withdrew a proposition made by Mr. Rush, and once 
during the present administration ; and once withdrawn in effect, 
though without the use of that word, by Mr. Gallatin, in 1827, 
who announced to the British negotiators "that his Government 
did not hold itself bound hereafter, in consequence of any propo- 
sal, which it had made for a line of separation between the terri- 
tories of the two nations beyond the Rocky mountains ; but would 
consider itself at liberty to contend for the full e.xtent of the claims 
of the United States." 

The Senator irom Louisiana will perceive, that he was in error 
yesterday, when he said, that no offer of a compromise had ever 
been withdrawn, till the withdrawal made by the present Adminis- 
tration, unless such offer had been announced as an ultimatum. 
But without recurring to any authority upon this subject, it is evi- 
dent, that if a nation is forever bound by an offer of compromise, 
no prudent nation would ever make such an offer. There would 
be no reciprocity in such a condition of things. In controversies 
respecting territory, each party would hold on to its extreme limit; 
for if it made an offer less than that, it would abandon, in fact, so 
much of its own pretensions, leaving those of its opponent in their 
full integrity. 

Such, sir, is the state of our controversy with England ; and 
yet honorable Senators upon this floor, able lawyers and jurists al- 
so, maintain that this line, thus offered, and refused, and with- 
drawn, is now in effect the limit of our claim, and that we are 
bound honorably, and morally, and they say, at the risk of the 
censure of the world, to receive it as our boundary v^^henever Eng- 
land chooses so to accept it. This is all very strange, and would 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 247 

seem to me so untenable, as not to be worthy of examination, if it 
were not urged by such high authorities. Let us look at it. 

The honorable Senator from Maryland has entered more fully 
into this branch of the subject than any other member of this body, 
and I shall therefore confine my inquiries to his remarks. 

There are two propositions connected with this matter, which 
it is proper to consider separately. The first is, the obligation 
upon the President, agreeably to his own views, to accept this re- 
jected oft'er, if it comes back to him ; and the other is, the obliga- 
tion upon the country, and upon this body, as one of its deposita- 
ries of the treaty-making power, to confirm the act of the Presi- 
dent, should it come here for confirmation. What, sir, is a com- 
promise ? It is an offer made by one party to the other to take 
less than his whole claim, with a view to an amicable adjustment 
of the controversy, whatever this may be. The doctrine of com- 
promises is founded upon universal reason; and its obligations, I 
believe, are everywhere the same, whether in the codes of munici- 
pal or general law. An offer made in this spirit never furnishes 
the slightest presumption against the claim of the party making it; 
and for the best of reasons, not only that this amicable process of 
settlement may be encouraged and extended, but because it will 
often happen, that both individuals and nations may be willing to 
sacrifice a portion of what they consider their just rights, rather 
than encounter the certain expense and trouble, and the uncertain 
issue of litigation, whether that litigation be in a court of justice, 
or upon a battle field. Such is the general principle ; and the 
practical operation of any other would hold one of the parties for- 
ever free. One makes his offer, and must adhere to it, while the 
other declines it, or refuses it, and still may hold on to it indefinitely. 

Surely it cannot be necessary to pursue this illustration farther. 
Such a construction as this, which plays fast and loose at the same 
time, carries with it its own refutation, however respectable the 
authority, which attempts to support it. But, reverting to the ob- 
ligation of the President, what says the honorable Senator from 
Maryland 1 He says that the President — not James K. Polk, but 
the Chief Magistrate of the nation — having felt an implied obliga- 
tion to renew the offer of 49 degrees, is now bound in all time to ac 
cept it, and, I suppose, patiently to wait for it, till the demand 
comes. 1 must say, that in this brief abstract of the President's 
views, the Senator'has hardly done justice to him. I do not stand 
here to say, what the President will do, should Great Britain pro- 
pose to accept the parallel of forty-nine degrees, as the boundary 
between the two countries. In the first place it woidd be to argue 
upon a gratuitous assumption. I have not the slightest reason to 
believe, that the British government have given any intimation 
that it will ever come back to that line. But, in the second place, 
if it should, what then ? The incipient step is for the President to 
take, and I should leave the matter here, without remark, had not 
the Senator from Maryland, and the Senator from North Carolina 



248 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

and other Senators, labored to impress the conviction, that the 
President ought, and must, and would close with the British pro- 
position to accept the parallel of forty-nine degrees, should it be 
made. I shall not analyze the words of the President's message, 
but content myself with a general allusi®n to it. Truth is seldom 
promoted by picking out particular phrases, and placing them in 
juxtaposition. The President says — and it is evident the whole 
message was carefully prepared — that though he entertained the 
settled conviction, that the British title to any portion of Oregon 
could not be maintained ; yet, in deference to the action of his 
predecessors, and to what had been done, and in consideration, 
that the pending negotiation had been commenced on the basis of 
compromise, he determined, in a spirit of compromise, to offer a 
part of what had been offered before — the parallel of forty-nine 
degrees, without the navigation of the Columbia river. He says 
this proposition was rejected, and in what terms we all know, and 
that he immediately withdrew it, and then asserted our title to the 
whole of Oregon, and maintained it by irrefragable arguments. 
Now, sir, I am not going to argue with any man, who seeks to de- 
duce from this language a conviction in the mind of the President, 
that he considers himself under the slightest obligation to England 
to accept the parallel of forty-nine degrees, should she desire it 
as a boundary. In this account of his proceedings, he is explain- 
ing to his countrymen the operations of his own mind, the reasons 
which induced him to make this offer, made, as he says, "in de- 
ference alone to what had been done by my predecessors, and the 
implied obligations their acts seemed to impose." What obliga- 
tions ? None to England, for none had been created ; but the 
obligations imposed upon a prudent statesman to look at the actions 
and views of his predecessors, and not to depart from them with- 
out good reasons. The obvious meaning is this : I found the ne- 
gotiations pending ; after an interval of almost twenty years, they 
had been renewed; they began on the basis of compromise, and 
though three times a compromise had been offered to England and 
rejected, and though she had not the slightest right to claim, or 
even expect it would be offered to her again, and though I deter- 
mined, that the same proposition should not be offered to her, still, 
as a proof of the moderation of the United States, I deemed it ex- 
pedient to make her another offer, less than the preceding one, 
which, a quarter of a century before, she had rejected. A curious 
obligation this, if it had reference to the rights of England, and a 
curious mode of fulfilling it 1 If he (the President) were under 
any obligation, the obligation was complete, to make the offer as 
it had been made before. And she has the same right to claim 
the navigation of the Columbia river, that she has to claim the 
parallel of forty-nine degrees as a boundary ; and the honorable 
Senator from Louisiana has placed the matter upon this very 
ground. Assuming, that the obligation referred to by the Presi- 
dent (^was an obligation to England, he thinks the President failed 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 249 

in his duty in not carrying out his own views of the national duties. 

Why, sir, if offers of compromise were to be made till doomsday, 
the rights of both parties would remain in their integrity. And 
what offer creates this implied obligation ? Several offers have 
been made by our government to that of England for the adjust- 
ment of this controversy. Which creates this obligation, one of 
them, or all of them? But it is very clear, sir, that neither of them 
creates it. The common-sense view of this subject is the true one 
in this case, and in most other cases. The party offering says to 
its adversary, I will consent to that line. If you consent to it, our 
controversy will be amicably adjusted. The only obligation created 
by this act is, to allow reasonable time to the other party for deci- 
sion, and then faithfully to adhere to the terms, should they be ac- 
cepted. If unreasonably delayed, still more, if rejected, both par- 
ties are thrown back upon their original position, unembarrassed 
by this attempt at conciliation. 

But, sir, the President is a judge of his own duties. I am not 
afraid to leave them with him — they are in safe keeping. Should 
the question respecting this parallel ever be presented to him for 
decision, I have a perfect conviction, that whether he decide for 
it or against it, or refer it to the consideration of the Senate, he 
will fulfill his responsible duties with a conscientious regard to the 
high obligations he is under to the country and to the Constitu- 
tion. But we, too, have duties to perform, and among these may 
be the necessity of deciding for ourselves the nature and extent of 
this obligation upon the nation. 

I do not speak now of any considerations of expediency, which 
may operate upon the decision of this matter. There are none 
which will operate upon me. But I assume to myself no right to 
prescribe the course of others, whether of the President or of the 
Senate, or to judge it when taken. But I reject this doctrine of 
a national obligation to England. I deny the right of any one to 
commit the faith of this country to a rejected line — to bind us, 
leaving our opponent unbound — to convert a mere offer of com- 
promise into the surrender of a claim ; to change the established 
opinions and usages of the world upon this subject. It seems to 
me that a cause cannot be strong which needs such auxiliaries for 
its support. 

But, sir, this doctrine, as I before observed, and the course of 
the remarks by which it is endeavored to maintain it, furnish to 
me conclusive arguments against the reference of this controversy 
to arbitration. Here, at home, in this co-ordinate branch of the 
national legislature, we are told, and almost ex cathedra too, that 
we have concluded ourselves, by this offer of forty-nine degrees, 
and that upon that parallel must be our boundary, when England 
makes up her mind to come to it. Now, in this state of the mat- 
ter, what would be the effect of an arbitration ? The Secretary of 
State, in his answer to the British Minister, has ably and truly ex- 
posed the tendency of this process of adjustment, whether j^blic 



250 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

or private. Its tendency is not to settle the actual rights of the 
parties, but to compromise them. To divide, and not to decide. 
We all know this, and he who runs may read it in the history of 
almost every arbitration, within the circle of his observation. 
Though, as I have already said, the offers of compromise we have 
made to England ought not to furnish the slightest presumption 
against the validity of our whole claim, and would not, before any 
well-regulated judicial tribunal in Christendom, yet commit our 
cause to arbitration, and where are we ? We might as well throw 
to the winds all the facts, and arguments, and illustrations, upon 
which we build our claim, and say to the arbitrators, do as you 
please, we are at your mercy, For this they would do at any rate. 
They would not heed your views, but they would turn to the his- 
tory of the controversy, and to the course of the parties. They 
would measure what each had offered, and would split the differ- 
ence to the ninth part of a hair. They would assume, that the 
American claim goes to the forty-ninth parallel, and the British 
claim to the Columbia river ; and they would add, and subtract, 
and multiply, and divide, till all this process would end in a toler- 
ably equal partition of what no one on this floor denies, and what 
every American, or almost every American, as firmly believes 
makes part of his country, as does the tomb at Mount Vernon, or 
the grave at the Hermitage, where countless generations of men 
will come as to places of pilgrimage — not, indeed, to worship, but 
to think upon the days and the deeds of the patriots and warriors 
who sleep below. You could not find a sovereign nor a subject, 
a State nor a citizen in Christendom, who, in such a controversy 
between two great nations, would not rather decide with the divi- 
ders, than with the titles. Well, sir, I agree fully, that if we wish 
to get rid of all this matter without regard to the why or the how, 
we may safely commit it to the custody of arbitrators. Their de- 
cision, though we should know it before hand, might be consid- 
ered a plaster for our wounded honor. A poor one, indeed, which 
would leave a most unsightly scar. But, in reality, sir, this course 
of action would be open and obvious to ourselves and to the world. 
Its motives' and its results would be equally palpable. We should 
lose much in interest, and much more in character. For myself, 
I would far rather divide with England this portion of the territory, 
than commit our rights to arbitration There would be some mag- 
nanimity in such a procedure. But to take shelter behind this 
form of trial is to resort to a miserable subterfuge, which, under 
the pretext of an equal adjustment, would be but a surrender. If, 
then, we seriously believe in our own claims, even to forty-nine 
degrees, and sincerely desire to maintain them, we must unite in 
approving the rejection, by the President, of this pacific means of 
transferring to England a valuable part of our common country. 

Mr. President, the honorable Senator from North Carolina, not 
now in his seat, called those, who believe our title to fifty-four de- 
grees forty minutes to be clear, the ultra friends of the President, 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS, 251 

and, I understood him, he claimed to be his true friend, saving him 
from those imprudent ones. As I find myself in this category, I 
am obnoxious to the charge, and with the natural instinct of self- 
defence, I desire to repel it. We are ultra friends, because we 
do not slop at forty-nine degrees. I have already shown, that 
there is no stopping place on that parallel — no true rest for an 
American foot. The Senator himself considers our title to that 
line clear and indisputable, and I understood him that he would 
maintain it, come what might. Well, if it is found that the treaty 
of Ulrecht no more extended to Oregon than to the moon, whatever 
other boundary may be sought or found, it cannot be that purely 
gratuitous boundary — the parallel of forty-nine degrees. And as 
the Senator from North Carolina must leave it, where will he find 
a better barrier than the Russian possessions? But he says, also, 
that though our title to the country north of forty-nine degrees is 
not indisputable, still it is better than any other title. Now, 1 will 
appeal to the Senator's charity — no, not to his charity, that is not 
necsssary — but I will appeal to his sense of justice, to say, whether 
such a difference of opinion as exists between himself and me on 
this subject can justly be characterized as ultralsm on my part. 
Our title, he says, is the best — not indisputable ; but still the best. 
The same evidence, which produced this conviction in his mind, 
produces a stronger one in mine ; and this is the tribute, which 
every day's experience pays to human fallibility We are differ- 
ently constituted, and differently affected by the same facts and 
arguments. While the honorable Senator stands upon the parallel 
of forty-nine degrees, as the precise line, where our questionable 
and unquestionable titles meet, there are many, and I am among 
the number, who carry our unquestionable title to the Russian 
boundarv in one direction, and some, perhaps, though I have not 
found one, who carry it in another direction to the Columbia river. 
It seems to me in bad taste, to say the least of it, for any member 
to assume his own views as infallible, and to say to all the world, 
who differ from him, whether on the. right hand or the left, my op- 
inion is the true standard of orthodoxy, and every one who departs 
from it is a heretic and an ulti-a. Thus to stigmatize a large por- 
tion of the Senate, is not, I am sure, the intention of the Senator ; 
but such is, in fact and effect, the direct tendency of his remarks. 
We are ultra, because, to use a somewhat quaint but a forcible 
apothegm, we icill not measure our corn hij his bushel. ^V hy, su', 
■vve have each a bushel of our own, given us by the creator, and 
till the Senator's is sealed and certified by a higher authority, 
■we beg leave to keep our own, and to measure our duties by it. 

I did not understand the precise object of some of the remarks 
of the Senator of North Carolina, though I had less difficulty re- 
specting the remarks themselves. He told us the President no- 
where claimed fifty-four degrees forty minutes; and 1 presume he 
thus contended in order to show that the President might consist- 
ently accept any boundary south of that parallel. I again disclaim 
all interference with the President in the execution of his duties. 



252 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

I do not think, that what he will do in a gratuitous case, should 
furnish the subject of speculation upon this floor. I know what 1 
will do, and that is enough for me; and as I took the opportunity, 
three years ago, in a public and printed address, at Fort Wayne, 
to define my position in this matter, before I became a member of 
this body, my allusion to it here cannot be deemed the premature 
expression of my opinion I then said : 

" Our claim to the country west of the Rocky mountains is as 
undeniable as our right to Bunker's Hill and New Orleans ; and 
who will call in question our title to these blood-stained fields? 
And I trust it will be maintained with a vigor and promptitude 
equal to its justice. War is a great evil, but not so great as na- 
tional dishonor. Little is gained by yielding to insolent and unjust 
pretensions. It is better to defend the first inch than the last. 
Far better, in dealing with England, to resist aggression, whether 
of impressment, of search, or of territory, when first attempted, 
than to yield in the hope, that forbearance will be met in a just 
spirit, and will lead to an amicable com[)romise. Let us have no 
red lines upon the map of Oregon. Let us hold on to the integrity 
of our just claim. And if war come, be it so; I do not believe it 
will be long avoided, unless prevented by intestine difficulties in 
the British Empire. And wo be to us, if we flatter ourselves it 
can be arrested by any system of concession. Of all delusions, 
this would be the most fatal, and we should awake from it a dis- 
honored, if not a ruined people." 

Now the Oregon I claim, is all Oregon, and no vote of mine in 
this Senate will surrender one inch of it to England. But the Sen- 
ator from North Carolina says, that the Oregon the President 
claims is an Oregon of his own, and not the country, which now 
excites the anxious solicitude of the American people. And if it 
were so, is it the duty of a friend, I may almost say claiming to be 
an exclusive one, to hold up to his countrymen the woid of prom- 
ise of their Chief Magistrate, thus kept to the ear, l.ut not to the 
hope? But it is not so. The honorable Senator has been led in- 
to an error — a palpable error. The President says the British 
pretensions could not be maintained to any portion of the Oregon 
territory. He says, also, that our title to the whole of the Oregon 
territory is maintained by irrefragable facts and arguments. He 
says British laws have been extended throughout the whole of 
Oregon. Now, sir, has any man a right to say, that the President 
falters in his purpose, by talking of the whole of a country, when 
he does not mean the whole of it ? No, sir ; the idea never occur- 
red to him, never crossed his mind. When he said Oregon, he 
meant so; and I have no more doubt, than I have of ray existence, 
that he believes as firmly in the American title to it, as he believes 
he is now the Chief Magistrate of the United States. 

If it were possible, that this proposition needed support, it would 
be easily found. The communications of the Secretary of State, 
are the communications of the President, written by his direction 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 255 

and submitted for his approbation, and never sent without his su- 
pervision, and very seldom, I imagine, without emendations by him. 
The correspondence with the British Minister, laid before us at 
the commencement ofthe session, was doubly his. His, because 
carried on by his Secretary of State, with a foreign government, 
and his, because communicated to Congress and his country, as 
the depositary of his views and measures. Well, sir, in the letter 
from the Secretary of State to Mr. Pakenham, dated July r2th, 
184-5, Mr. Buchanan says : 

" Upon the whole, from the most careful and ample examination 
which the undersigned has been able to bestow upon the subject, 
he is satisfied that the Spanish American title now held by the 
United States, embracing the whole territory between the parallels 
of forty-two degrees and fift3'-four degrees forty minutes, is the 
best title in existence to this entire region," &c. 

And he adds : 

" Notwithstanding such was and still is the opinion of the 
President," &lc. 

Human words and human deeds are worthless to disclose human 
opinions, if the Oregon of the President is not the Oregon we 
claim and hope to secure. 

The Senator from North Carolina has presented to us some pe- 
culiar views of the President's position and duties, and has deduced 
his future course, not from his message, but from extrinsic circum- 
stances, acts o^ omission and of commission, as he calls them, by 
which the language of the President is to be controlled, and his 
further course in this controversy regulated. I doubt the propri- 
ety, as well as the wisdom of all this, either as regards the Presi- 
dent, the Senate, or the country. If successful in his declarations 
or expositions, whichever they may be, I do not see what practical 
advantage the Senator expected to gain. The President would 
still have to perform his own duties, and we to perform ours, with- 
out reference to the embarrasments created by this novel mode of 
reading the past views and the future course of the Chief Magis- 
trate. In the mean time, what better plan could be devised to 
excite the public mind, and to rouse suspicions, which would fly 
upon the wings of the wind to the furthest verge of the country? 
No such intentions ever entered the mind of the honorable 
Senator ; but I submit to him, if, in its very nature, this pro- 
cess is not calculated to produce such a result, and whether, in 
fact, it has not produced it. And yet, it seems to me, that the 
reasons in support of it are utterly insufficient to justify the con- 
clusions. 

What are these reasons ? I will just touch some of them, hav- 
ing no time to pursue the subject. 

There were two acts of commission ; one was the offer before 
made of the parallel of forty-nine degrees as a compromise ; and 
the other was the expression of Mr. Buchanan in his last letter to 
the British Minister, dated August 30th, 1845, that the Presi- 



254 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

dent hoped the controversy would be terminated without a collision. 

Now, sir, as to the first. 1 trust I have shown, that whatever 
course the President may pursue respecting the parallel of forty- 
nine degrees, as a boundary hereafter, his duty will be before him, 
unembarrassed by the offer heretofore made, and that, consequent- 
ly, that circumstance is no key to unlock the hidden future. 

And as to the second. I will ask the honorable Senator if, upon 
reflection, he thinks the expression of the President's hope is really 
entitled to this consideration. 

It seems to me partly a polite and courteous phrase, and partly 
the sincere declaration of a wish, that some mode might be devised 
for an amicable adjustment of this matter. Let us not deprive 
diplomatists of that hope, which carries us all forward to the bright 
recompense of the future. But let us not convert the expression 
of it into solid promises, nor settled convictions. 

And what are the acts of o?!iissio7il One is the neglect to re- 
commend defensive measures, and the other is a want of confi- 
dence in the chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations. 

And now for the first. I presume ere this the honor;ible Sena- 
tor is aware, that he has entirely misunderstood the views of the 
President upon this subject. In his message, at the commence- 
ment of the session, the President recommended that a force of 
mounted riflemen should be raised, and also an augmentation of 
the naval means of the country. But later in the session, in con- 
formity with resolutions which originated here, recommendations 
and estimates, seen and approved by the President, and his in fact, 
ao-reeably to the constitution of our Executive department, were 
sent, by the Secretaries of the War and of the Navy, to the proper 
committees of the Senate. A bill was reported by the Naval Com- 
mittee for an additional steam force, and was ably and vigorously 
advocated by the honorable chairman of that committe. But it 
was put to sleep, partly, if not principally, I believe, upon the ground 
that, if you cannot immediately equip a navy, therefore you must 
not build a ship ; And if you do not require an army, therefore you 
must not raise a regiment. And the result may well have been 
taken as an indication both by the Naval and Military Commit- 
tees, that the Senate did not deem an augmentation of the defen- 
sive means of the country necessary under the circumstances, and 
therefore prevented all further action on their part, as useless. 
For I consider the proposition of the Naval Committee, thus put 
to sleep, one of the least objectionable of all the measures submit- 
ted to us under the sanction of the President. 1 have looked over 
these estimates, sir, both from the War and Navy Departments, 
and I consider them proper and judicious, in the existing state of 
our relations with England; and I will add, the heads of both of 
those departments discharged their responsible duties — for their 
duties were responsible — in a satisfactory manner. 

A brief recapitulation may not be unacceptable, nor unpro- 
fitable. 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 255 

. The Secretary of War recommended the immediate passage of a 
bill for the new works. 

An appropriation of three hundred tliousand dollars for the fort- 
ification and obstruction of channels; and also for field work.s. 

An appropriation of one hundred thousand dollars for general 
contingencies in the field, including the preparation of a pontoon 
equipage. ^« 

An estimate of the sum of five million dollars, as necessary for 
fortifications and obstructions, to be appropriated when Conirress 
might think the aspect of affairs threatened hostilities, and then to 
be placed at the disposition of the President. 

The estimate for ordnance and ordnance stores amounted to 
four million, two hundred and seventy-nine thousand, six hundred 
and eighty dollars — of course to be appropriated as Congress 
might deem proper. 

An addition to the army of so many privates as would raise each 
company to one hundred men, thus adding seven thousand, nine 
hundred and sixty men to the army. 

Authority to the President to raise fifty thousand volunteers, 
to be called into the public service for one year, whenever re- 
quired. 

The propositions respecting fortifications and ordnance came 
from the proper bureaus, and the proposition for an augmentation 
of the array and a volunteer force came from the commandtjio- (ren- 
eral, whose high character and gallant services in the field, justly 
give great weight to his opinions ; and those propositions were 
assumed by the Secretary, and he became responsible for them. 

The Secretary of the Navy recommended an accumulation of 
naval materials and stores to the amount of one million sixty thou- 
sand dollars. 

For the repair and equipment of all the vessels in ordinary, and 
of the frigates of the United States, two million one hundred and 
forty-five thousand dollars. 

For three steam-frigates, five steam-sloops, and two steamers, of 
a smaller class, three million three hundred and ten thousand dol- 
lars. 

Naval ordnance and stores, three hundred and sixty thousand 
dollars. * 

How these estimates were prepared in the Navy Department, 
the document in my possession does not show. I presume they 
went through the proper bureaus. They came to the Senate, as 
the act of the Secretary. 

It is obvious that all these appropriations, in any contingency, 
would not be wanted for some time ; and, indeed, that the full leg- 
islative action upon the subject would await the developments 
growing out of our foreign relations. Ordinary prudence requires 
that a commencement should be immediately made ; to what ex- 
tent, Congress must judge. But it will be remarked, that much 
the larger portion of these estimates is for materials and supplies. 



256 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

which we must have some time orother, and ought to have ere 
long, let the aspect of our foreign a^rs he as it may. 

In making this provision, we but^ticipate our necessities, and 
the worst tliat can happen will be, that we shall sooner be prepared 
for a state of things, for which we ought to be always prepared. 

As to the mode of receiving this information, it has been sanc- 
tioned by the practice of the govern^nt for years. Congress and 
its committees have been in the daily habit of calling upon the 
heads of the departments for the necessary facts and views in the 
discharge of their legislative duties. And, in all cases like the 
present, the reports are submitted to the President before being 
sent here, and thus receive his sanction, and they are often changed 
by his directions. This is well known to all who are acquainted 
with the routine of our executive department. 

To return now, sir, to this act of omission, this neglect to re- 
commend proper measures of defence, by which the President's 
views are to be interpreted, as I understand, in this manner. The 
President recommends no measures of defence. Therefore he con- 
siders the country in no danger. Therefore he intends to yield 
to the parallel of forty-nine degrees, which the British government 
intends to demand ; and thus there will be no war. Now, sir, 
more than two months before this position was taken by the hon- 
orable Senator, the President had recommended, by his Secreta- 
ries, an addition to the army of almost eight thousand men, the or- 
ganization of hfty thousand volunteers, the removal of the limita- 
tions respecting naval establishments, that he might be able to di- 
rect such an augmentation of the seamen of the navy as circum- 
stances may require, and appropriations for military purposes to 
the amount of nine million six hundred and seventy-eight thou- 
sand, six hundred and eighty dollars ; and for naval purposes to the 
amount of six million five hundred and fifteen thousand dollars — 
making in the whole sixteen million, one hundred and ninety-five 
thousand, six hundred and eighty dollars, in addition to the recom- 
mendations in his message at the commencement of the session, 
and to the ordinary estimates of the department. 

It is unnecessary to pursue this topic. Whatever may be the 
just construction of the President's meaning, which to me is ex- 
ceedingly clear, it is now obvious that this act of omissioi* becomes 
an act of c'ommission, and proves that the President is by no means 
tranquil respecting the condition of the country. 

As to the alleged want of Executive confidence in the chairman 
of the Committee on Foreign Relations, I hardly know how to 
speak of it becomingly, when urged in this connexion. Were the 
fact so, it would seem very strange to me, and I should think the 
President very badly advised, to withhold a proper confidence from 
one of his truest and most efficient friends upon this floor, and one, 
too, who, from his position at the head of a most important com- 
mittee, was officially entitled to it. 

No one, who has witnessed the energy, the talent, and the prompt- 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 257 

itude of the honorable chairman, can doubt the service he has ren- 
dered this Administration, nor the confidence he deserves — a con- 
fidence, indeed, demanded more for the sake of the public interest, 
than for his own sake. 

But, sir, I have reason to know that the Senator from North 
Carolina is in error in all this; that this deduction from extrinsic 
circumstances is but another proof, that truth is not always attained 
when sought by indirect and remote facts. I have reason to know 
that the chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations com- 
municates freely with the President, and enjoys his confidence. 

And what proof of estrangement between these high functiona- 
ries is furnished by the honorable Senator from North Carolina? 
Why, thus stands the case : The honorable chairman stated that 
the records, and the records alone, were the sources of his inform- 
ation. 

It seems to me it would better become our position if we all 
sought the views of the President, so far as we ought to seek them, 
in the same authentic documents. It would save a world of un- 
profitable conjecture. Now, sir, what does all this amount to? 
Why, to this : the President told the Senator from Ohio no more, 
as to his future course, than he told the country and Congress in 
his message. It would be strange if he had. The avowal of a line 
of policy, when the proper circumstances are before him, is the 
duty of a sound andpractical statesman. But I should much doubt 
the wisdom of the Chief Magistrate of a great country, who should 
sit down to speculate upon future and remote contingencies, affect- 
ing the public welfare, with a view even to the decision upon 
his own course, and still less with a view to its annunciation to 
the world. 

Let me, then, ask the Senator, if he thinks it is the duty of the 
chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations to put gratuitous 
questions to the President, in order that he may be able to come 
here and declare what the Executive will do in such a contingen- 
cy, which may never happen; or which, if it do happen, may bring 
with it circumstances, that may change the whole aspect of the 
question 1 But I forbear, sir. I consider it unnecessary to pursue 
this question further. 

A considerable portion of the argument of the Senator from 
North Carolina was devoted to prove that the message of the Pres- 
ident did not justify these anticipations of war, which it appears 
to myself and to other Senators to do. Not that he called in ques- 
tion the natural tendency of the measures recommended by the 
President, nor the fair construction of his language ; but he con- 
trolled these by the extrinsic facts to which I have adverted. I 
shall say nothing more upon this subject, but I shall fortify my own 
opinion by the views of other members of this body, who are en- 
titled to more weight than I am. 

The honorable Senator from South Carolina said " that the re- 
commendation in the message is founded upon the conviction, that 

17 



268 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. ^ 

there is no hope of compromise of the difficulties growing out of 
the President's message is too clear to admit of any doubt." 

After some further remarks, showing the opinions entertained 
of the dangers of war, he adds: "Entertaining these opinions, we 
were compelled to oppose notice, because it was necessary to pre- 
vent an appeal to arms, and insure the peaceful settlement of the' 
question." 

And the Senator from Maryland said : " We have all felt, Mr, 
President, that at one time at least — I trust that time is past — the 
nation was in imminent danger. From the moment that the Pre- 
sident of the United States deemed it right and becoming, in the 
very outset of his oiTicial career, to announce to the world that the 
title to the north-west territory was clear and indisputable, down 
to his message in December last, I could not see how war was to 
be averted." 

And the honorable Senator from Louisiana, in his speech yes- 
terday, advanced the same opinion upon this subject. 

And the Senator from Georgia also expressed the conviction 
that "this resolution, based as it is on the President's message, is 
a distinct intimavion to Great Britain that this matter must be set- 
tled, and in a manner acceptable to us, or that at the expiration 
of that time we will take forcible possession of the whole country," 
which of course means war. 

And he adds that '"the Senator from North Carolina tells us, 
that the President is waiting at the open door of his cabinet, ready 
to adjust this controversy, and to preserve the peace of the coun- 
try." "Sir," he adds, "even with the aid of the Senator's optics, 
I cannot see him there." And he adds, also, if these things were 
so, referrincrto the vi6ws of the Senator from North Carolina re- 
specting the President's message, "I should be sorry to do so." 
And I fully concur with him in the sentiment. 

Now, sir, I shall not thrust myself into this dispute — 
'• Non nostrum inter vos tantas componere lites." 

During ihe progress of this discussion, the blessings of peace 
and the horrors of war have been frequently presented to us with 
the force of truth, and sometimes with the fervency of an excited 
imagination. 1 have listened attentively to all this, though much 
of it 1 remember to have heard thirty-five years ago. But I beg 
honorable Senators to recollect, that upon this side of the chamber 
we have interests, and families, and homes, and a country, as well 
as they have ; and that we are as little disposed to bring war upon 
our native land, unnecessailly, as they can be. That some of us 
know by experience, all of us by reading and reflection, the cala- 
mities, moral and physical, that war brings in its train. And we 
appreciate the blessings of peace with a conviction as deep and as 
steadfast. And no one desires its continuance more earnestly 
than I do. But all this leaves untouched the only real subject of 
inquiry. That is not whether peace is a blessing and war a curse 
but whether peace can be preserved, and war avoided, consistently 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 25& 

with the honor and interest of the country. That question may 
come up for solution ; and if it does, it must be met by each one 
of us, with a full sense of its abiding importance, and of his own 
responsibility. I suppose there is not a gentleman in this body, 
who will not say, that cases may occur, even in this stage of the 
world, which may drive this country to the extreme remedy of war, 
rather than she should submit to arrogant and unreasonable de- 
mands, or to direct attacks upon our rights and independence — 
like impressment, or the search of our ships, or various otiier acts 
by which power is procured and maintained over the timid and the 
weak. The true prrctical question for a nation is not the cost of 
war, whether measured by dollars, or by dangers, or by disasters, 
but whether war can be honorably avoided; and that question 
each person having the power of determination must determine for 
himself, when the case is presented. Good men may indulge in 
day-dreams upon this subject, but he who looks upon the world 
as it has been, as it is, and as it is likely to be, must see that the 
moral constitution of man has undergone little change ; and that 
interests and passions operate not less upon communities, than 
they did when the law of public might was the law of public right, 
more openly avowed than now. Certainly a healthful public opin- 
ion exerts a stronger influence over the world, than at any former 
period of its history, (rovernments are more or less restrained by 
it, and all feel the effects of it. Mistresses, and favorites, and min- 
ions, no longer drive nations to war, nor are mere questions of 
etiquette among the avowed causes of hostilities. It is not proba- 
ble, that a people will ever be again overcome, because a states- 
inan may consult his vanity rather than his taste in the choice of 
his pictures, nor that the state of Europe will be changed because 
a lady's silk gown may be spoiled by a cup of tea. Humanity has 
gained something — let us hope it will gain more. Questions of' 
war are passing from cabinets to the people. If they are discussed, 
in secret, they are also discussed before the world, for there is not 
a government in Christendom, which would dare to rush into war, 
without first consulting the public mind. 

A great deal has been said in England, and not a little in the 
United States, respecting our grasping propensity in demanding 
the whole of Oregon ; and we have been solemnly admonished of 
the awful responsibility of involving two great nations in war. The 
subject in dispute is said not to be worth the perils a conflict would 
bring with it; and the honorable Senator from Maine has exhibi- 
ted to us, as in balance, the disasters of war, and the value of the 
matter in controversy, and has made our territorial claims to kick 
the beam. Permit me to turn to the other side of this picture. I 
acknowledge the moral obligation of Government to avoid war, 
where higher obligations do not drive them to it. I will not call 
England the Pharisee of nations, but I will say that she does not 
hide the light of her own good deeds under a bushel. The ocean 
scarcely beats upon a shore within sight of which her flag is not 



'260 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

seen, and within sound of which her drum is not heard. And yet 
aouoderation is proclaimed, and often with the soundof her cannon, 
from one end of the civilized world to the other. She is not like 
^tlm- nations, and least of all, like that great grasping mohocracy 
of the West " I thank God," said the Pharisee of old, " that I 
am not as other men are." Now the chapter of accidents has turn- 
ed up favorably for England, if she will accept the opportunity af- 
forded her. No man in this country wants war — ultraists no more 
than compromists, if I may use terms justified by the occasion. 
The extreme partisan of decisive measures asks nothing but the 
whole of Oregon. Give him that, and he will become as meek as 
the latest professor of humility, who writes homilies upon national 
moderation for the London Times. Now, sir, let England aban- 
don her pretensions, and all these disasters, the consequences of 
war, which are foretold — and 1 do not doubt many of them justly 
foretold — will give way, and exist only in the memory of this de- 
bate. There is no condition of things, foreseen by any man, pub- 
lic or private, in this country, which can give to England a better 
!ine, than 49". The country north of that line is therefore all she 
oould gain by a contest, which is to involve the fearful consequen- 
ces predicted to both countries ; which during its progress, it is 
«aid, will bring nation after nation wathin the sphere of its opera- 
toon, and which is finally to commit to the decision of the sword 
-the^reat question of free government through the world, by placing 
•ia Its path the antagonistic principle, that the many should be gov- 
«riied by the few. What, then, would England surrender to pre- 
serve the peace of the world, and thus give the first practical proof 
of moderation to be found in the long annals of her history \ I 
agree fully with the honorable Senator from Missouri, [Mr. At- 
chison,] that if England would acknowledge our rights, and with- 
'- draw her opposition to them, and should then ask a better access 
^4©* the ocean for her interior territories, I would grant it without 
"^ieshation, as a favor, upon the most reasonable consideration. If 
tliiis should be done, she would have left about three hundred miles 
.^f coast to fight for ; and I will return the question of the gentle- 
anan from Maine, and ask if this strip of land is worth the price 
of such a contest? England is already gorged with possessions, 
lioth continental and insular, overrun, almost overloaded with sub- 
jects of all castes, colors, and condition. At this very moment, 
-she is waffinc^ two wars of aggrandizement — one for commercial 
projects upon the La Plata, and the other for a new empire upon 
the Indus. The latest Morning Chronicle I have seen, one of last 
anonth— and that paper is the Whig organ of England— says, and 
thie proposition is enunciated with characteristic coolness, and 
with as much apparent candor, as if it were extracted from the la- 
Itest treatise upon public morals, " loe can never govern India so 
mtUas we might, Until we possess the whole of it." A congenial 
-SMtiment is quite as much at home in every English breast, that 
JL-merica ivould he much better governed than it is, if England 
^ms&ssed the whole oj it. 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 2St 

Let the British Government now say, two wars at the same time 
are enough for the purpose of aggrandizement. We will not en- 
counter a third — we will give up this doubtful and disputed dainty 
and hold on in America to what we have got — we will do somuclk 
for peace. Let her ,do this, and I, for one, will say, well done. 
You begin to practice, though upon a small scale, as you preach. 
And why not do so ? This territory is separated by an ocean and 
a continent from England. She cannot long hold it, if she should 
gain it. I mean long, compared with the life of nations ; whereas 
it joins us, intervenes between us and our communication with the 
Pacific, will form an mtegral — I do not doubt a perpetual — ^por- 
tion of our confederacy, will be, in time, a necessary outlet for our 
population, and presents all those elements of contiguity and of 
position, which indicate and invite political unions. 

But it has been said and resaid, in the Senate and out of it, that 
two great nations cannot go to war. And why cannot two great 
nations 20 to war against one another, as well as two creat nations 
combined against one another, as well as two great nations con>- 
bined against a small one I So far as honor contemns a disparity 
of force, the former would be much more honorable than the latter. 

What is going on in the La Plata, where France and England 
have sent their united fleets and armies against the Argentine Re- 
public, and where the echoes of their cannon are ascending the 
Parana and its vast tributaries, till they are lost in the gorges of 
the Andes? 

There can be no war in this enlightened age of the world I 
What, then, is passing in Africa, where one hundred thousand 
Christian bayonets' have driven the Arab from his home, and are 
pursuing him into the desert, the refuge of the turban since the 
days of the patriarchs ? 

What is passing upon the shores of the Euxine, where the Cos^ 
sack has left his native plains, and, at the call of Russia, is ascend- 
ing the ridges of the Caucasus to subdue its indigenous races, and 
to substitute the mild rule of the Muscovite for their own patriarch- 
al form of government — dependence upon the Czar for dependence 
upon themselves ? 

And what is passing in the Punjaub, where the last advices left 
two mighty armies almost within sight of each other, after having 
fouo-ht a great battle of Hindoo ambition against English modera- 
tion 7 

And how long since an enlightened Government, par areUence^ 
broke the barrier of Chinese povv^er, which has so long insulted a 
vast empire, and scattered dismay and death along its coasts, be- 
cause its rulers had interdicted the sale of opium, a drug equally 
destructive to the moral faculties and to the physical powers of 
man? The Tartar passed the great wall, and planted his horse 
tails upon the towers of Pekin. He then became a Chinese, and 
the empire went on as before. But the Englishman, with his can- 
non balls and his opium, has introduced an innovation into the- 



262 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

habits and condition of one-third part of the human race, which 
may fatally affect its future prosperity. 

And how long is it since an English army passed the gates of 
Asia, and, ascending the table-land of that continent, if it had not 
been annihilated by a series of disasters, which have few parallels 
in modern warfare, might have reversed the march of Alexander, 
and reached the Mediterranean by Nineveh, and Babylon, and Je- 
rusalem 1 

And only five short years have elapsed since Christian cannon 
were heard in the mountains of Lebanon, and their bombs explo- 
ded among the broken monuments of Sidon. 

In this brief view and review of pending and recent wars, I do 
not advert to the hostilities going on among some of the States of 
Spanish origin upon this continent, in Hayti, in Southern Africa, 
upon the frontiers of the colony at the Cape of Good Hope, in Ma- 
dagascar, and in various islands of the Eastern ocean, because 
these are small wars, and some of them are waged by civilized na- 
tions against barbarous tribes, and hardly worthy of attention in 
these days of philanthropy — of that philanthropy which neglects 
objects of misery at home, whether in England or Ireland, the re- 
lief of which would be silent and unobtrusive, and seeks them 
everywhere else through the world, that they may be talked of and 
exhibited as proofs of benevolence — which, as an eminent French 
writer says, overlooks the wants of our neighbors, but goes to the 
north pole upon a crusade of charity ! which has an innate horror 
at the very idea of black slavery, but looks calmly and philosophi- 
cally, and with no boWels of compassion, nor compunction of re- 
morse upon white slavery and brown slavery, ambuntingt.o millions 
upon millions in Russia, and in the English possessions in India 
and elsewhere, because, forsooth, this servitude is not the United 
States, and neither cotton nor sugar will be affected by it. 

These, and the Belgian war, and the Spanish war, and the Greek 
war, are events of but yesterday, yet sounding in our ears, and 
dwelling upon our tongues. And I might go on with these proofs 
and illustrations of pugnacious disposition of the world, till your 
patience and mine were exhausted. 

Why, sir, if England had a temple of Janus, as Rome had of old, 
it would be as seldom shut, as was that of her imperial prototype. 
The first fifteen years of this very century were nearly all passed 
in the greatest war known perhaps in the annals of mankind ; and 
there are Senators in this body, and I among the number, who 
were born at the close of one war with England, and have lived 
through another, and who are perhaps destined to witness a third. 
And yet zealous but-ill-judging men would try to induce us to cast 
by our armor, and lay open our country, because, forsooth, the 
age is too enlightened to tolerate war. I am afraid we are not as 
good as these peace men, at all sacrijices, persuade themselves and 
attempt to persuade others. 

But, sir, to advert to another topic. I perceive — and I am hap- 



LIFE OE GENERAL CASS. 263 

py to find it so — that there has been a nearer union of sentiment 
on one branch of this subject between the honorable Senator from 
Maryland and myself than I had supposed. All I regret is, that 
he had not av^owed his opinion earlier in the session ; for I should 
have felt myself greatly encouraged in my course by the identity 
of our views respecting the danger of the country. The honora- 
ble gentleman says: " We all have felt at one time, at least — I 
trust that that time has passed — the nation was in imminent dan- 
ger of war.'" " From the moment the President of the United 
States deemed it right and becoming, in the very outset of his 
official career, to *^nnounce to the world, that the title of the Uni- 
ted States to the northwest territory was clear and indisputable, 
down to the period of his Message in Deceniber, when he reite- 
rated the assertion, I could not see how it was possible war was 
to be averted." " I could not but listen with dismay and alarm 
at what fell from the distinguished Senator from Michigan at an 
early period of this session."' 

Now, sir, I have not the slightest wish to misinterpret the sen- 
timents of the Senator from Maryland ; but I frankly confess I do 
not understand how, with the opinion he expresses, that war was 
unavoidable, any remarks of mine could have been thus character- 
ized. I am well aware, indeed, that they came like a bomb-shell 
into a powder magazine. But vvhy, I have not yet to learn. Like 
the honorable Senator from Maryland, the moment 1 read the Pre- 
sident's Message, I saw, to my own conviction at least, that our 
duty, as representatives and sentinels of the people, required us to 
take measures of precaution, proportioned to the danger, whatever 
that mio-ht be. The President, with a due reg;ard to his own res- 
ponsibility, as well as to the just expectation cf his countrymen, 
spread before us, not only his own views and recommendations, 
but the whole diplomatic correspondence, which had passed be- 
tween the two Governments, on the subject of Oregon. Well, we 
all saw there was a dead halt in the march of the neg^iations. 
The President told us, in effect, they were closed. I am not, sir, 
very tenacious as to the word. I do not attach that importance, 
in fact, to the condition itself, which the Senator from IVorth Ca- 
rolina appears to do. I am willing to call it closed, or terminated 
or suspended, or in the Executive phrase, '• dropped." All I wish 
to show is, that nothing was going on. Why the honorable Sena- 
tor from North Carolina dwelt with such earnestness upon this 
point, I do not comprehend, unless, indeed, he supposed, that if 
the negotiations were closed, they were closed forever, beyond the 
reach of the parties. If such were his views, I do not partake 
them. J trust no (piestion of mere etiquette will keep the parties 
separated, if other circumstances should indicate they might be 
brought together. Such a course of action, or rather of inaction, 
would deserve the reprobation of the whole world. But however 
this may be, the President said, that all attempts at compromise 
had failed. These are his words. He invited us to give the no- 



264 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

tice, for the termination of the joint occupation of the country- 
He said it was all ours, and that our title to it was maintained hy 
irrcfragahle facts and arguments ; and he said, also, that at the 
end of the year, the temporary measures, which a regard to treaty 
stipulations allowed us only to adopt at this time, must be aban- 
doned, and our jurisdiction over the whole country established 
and maintained. Such were, in effect, the views submitted to us 
by the Chief Magistrate of the nation, in the discharge of a sol- 
emn duty, committed to him by the Constitution. 

One would think there were elements enough of trouble to en- 
gage the attention of the National Legislature, and to command 
its immediate action. ^ If the ship of State were to be steered by 
the chart thus prepared by the pilot, either Great Britain must 
turn from her course, or we must meet her. There was no other 
alternative. She must gainsay much she had said. She must re- 
linquish much she had claimed. She must concede much she had 
denied. She must do what a proud nation does with reluctance — 
retrace her steps in the face of the world, and lower herself in her 
own estimation. I did not say she would not do all this. I do 
not say so now. But looking to her history, to her position, and 
to the motives of human conduct — as these operate upon commu- 
nities, as well as upon iudivi-Juals — I had great difficulty in believ- 
ing that she would do it, and 1 said so. And there was yet anoth- 
er element of uncertainty, combined with all these causes of em- 
barrassment, and that was the doubt, if she came to the parallel of 
49°, whether she would find our Government ready to come back 
to the same line. I know nothing of the intentions of either Gov- 
ernment upon that subject. I cannot speak authoritatively, and 
therefore I do not undertake to speak at all. I know as little as 
any one in this room, be he actor or spectator in the scene that is 
passing. Whether the offer would be accepted, if repeated, or 
whether it would be repeated, if demanded. All I know is, that as 
the basisjaf an amicable adjustment, that time, which while it mends 
some things mars others, is every day increasing the difliculty of 
its establishment ; and that, as a means of terminating this contro- 
versy, 1 believe the question is rapidly passing from the control of 
the Government to the control of public opinion. 

Under these circumstances, I introduced resolutions of inquiry 
into the necessity of adopting measures for the defence of the coun- 
try, and, on the loth of December, I advocated their adoption and 
explained my views, of which I have now troubled the Senate with 
a brief summary, and to which the honorable Senator says he list- 
ened with " dismay and alarm." " Dismay and alarm" at propo-. 
sitions for defence, when the gentleman himself says that "the 
nation was in imminent danger." ! When " he could not see how 
it was possible war was to be avoided !" For it will be observed, 
they were subsequent by some weeks, which removed this impres- 
sion of the danger of war made by the President's Inaugural Ad- 
dress, and by his Message at the commencement of the session. 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 265 

They were the speeches of the Senators from Missouri and New 
York, and especially the speech recently delivered by the Senator 
from North Carolina. For myself I did not hear one word fall 
from the Senators from Missouri and New York, so far as I re- 
collect, in which I did not fully concur. The former, besides the 
authority which long experience, high talents, and great services 
to his country and his party, give to all he says, here and elsewhere, 
understands this whole subject better perhaps than any man in the 
nation. And we all have borne our tribute of gratification to the 
able and statesmanlike exposition of the matter given by the Se- 
nator from New York. 1 did not understand either of these Se- 
nators, as alluding to the ulterior course of the President, or seek- 
ing to express any opinion respecting the result of this controver- 
sy. And I will ask the Senator from Maryland whether, upon a 
grave question like thi?, it is not safer and wiser to deduce the views 
of the President from two public and solemn documents, spread- 
ing before his country, his opinions and fore-shadowing his course, 
rather than from the construction given them by others, and rest- 
ing upon what is called acts of omission and of commisston. 

It is not a little curious, but it is nevertheless true, that during 
the discussions brought out by my resolutions, gentlemen on the 
other side of the Senate took the opportunity of expressing their 
entire concurrence in the views and course of the President, and 
avowed their gratification at the Executive statements and recom- 
mendations. Though a condensed narrative of the negotiations 
accompanied the Message and formed the groundwork of the sug- 
gestions submitted to us, an.d though the correspondence was 
spread out in full before us. What is now thought upon this sub- 
ject on the other side of the chamber, it needs not that I should 
tell. The views there expressed are as unequivocal as they are 
condemnatory. " We all have felt," says the Senator from Ma- 
ryland, " that war was imminent," and still more emphatically, 
" 1 could not see how it was possible war was to be averted." 

But I may be permitted to ask the honorable Senator, if war, in 
his opinion, was thus imminent, and not to be averted, how happen- 
ed it that my remarks " filled him with alarm and dismay T' I 
thought there was danger of war, and so it appears did he. And 
his estimate of the danger was higher than mine ; for I thought that 
among other means of avoiding it, instant and adequate prepara- 
tions might exhibit such powers of offence and defence, and such 
a spirit in the country, that England might pause before she would 
drive us to the last alternative of injured nations. And therefore 
was I so anxious for an immediate and decisive manifestation upon 
this subject. But we have all suffered these resolutions to sleep, 
as I remarked the other day, if not the sleep of death, a slumber al- 
most as quiet ; and though they were a little startled by the Pre- 
sident's Message, still, before their full resucitation into life, it may 
be necessary, that that same solemn warning should penetrate 
these marble Halls, which has said to other improvident nations. 



266 LIFE OP GENERAL CASS. 

awake ! the enemy is upon you. If, then, both the Senator and 
myself were apprehensive of war, and he thought it could not be 
averted, the " dismay and alarm" which my remarks occasioned, 
did not result from any difference of views upon that subject. And, 
as these remarks had but two objects — one to show the danger we 
were in, and the other to guard against it — it would seem to be the 
latter at which the honorable Senator took exception ; and it is cer- 
tainly a cause of mortification, that I managed my subject so awk- 
wardly, as to convert my propositions for defence into a matter for 
" alarm and dismay." 

Since, then, however, sir, another note of warning has reached 
us from the eastern hemisphere, and we not only know that Eng- 
land is arming, but the sovereign herself has announced the fact 
in the most imposing manner, and has called upon Parliament to 
extend these armaments still further. And we now exhibit to the 
world the extraordinary spectacle of a nation in a state of perfect 
tranquility — I might rather say of apathy, almost — without an ar- 
my, without a militia — for our militia is unfortunately nearly disor- 
ganized — with unfinished and insufficient defences, with an inade 
quate supply of the materiel of war, with a navy calculated only 
for a state of peace, with three thousand six hundred miles of sea- 
coast on the Atlantic, and one thousand three hundred miles on 
the Pacific, and four thousand one hundred miles of interior fron- 
tier from Eastport to the line where 54^ 40 strikes the ocean, and 
two thousand four hundred miles of interior frontier from the south- 
western corner of Oregon to the Rio del Norte — making a boun- 
dary of eleven thousand four hundred miles, agreeably to the cal- 
culation I have procured from the librarian, and .penetrable in all 
directions. While, at the same time, we are involved in a great 
controversy with the most formidable nation — formidable in the 
means of injuring us — upon the face of the globe, which is buck- 
ling on its armor, and telling the world, through its sovereign, that 
it will maintain its interests and honor — which, being translated 
into plain American, means that it will hold on to its claims. 

Mr. President, a great deal has been said, both here and else- 
where, respecting the probability of war — whether it will result 
from the present condition of the two nations. Some gentlemen 
think this is a legitimate subject of inquiry, arising out of the prin- 
cipal question — that of the notice — directly before us ; while others 
think we should decide the question on its own merits, leaving out 
of view the consequences, to which it may lead. Certainly, a ques- 
tion of territorial right should be judged and determined nakedly, 
and unembarrassed by other considerations. We owe that to our 
own honor. Still, it becomes prudent men, especially prudent 
statesmen, when taking an important step, to look to its results. 
Neither national nor individual acts insulated — one measure leads 
to another. It seems to me it is not only our right, but our duty, 
as the Representatives of the States, to inquire where this mea- 
sure will conduct us. If to a stable peace, so much the better. 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 267 

If to war, let us contemplate its prospects and its dangers, and let 
us prepare for its consequences. But, at any rate, let us comciune 
together, and not blindly rush into the future, rather driven by our 
instincts, than guided by our reason. 

Our first object is to preserve our rights ; our next to do that 
peacefully. While we all hope that war will be averted, that hope 
will never be strengthened by underrating the capacity of either 
nation to defend itself, or to injure its opponent. For my own 
part, I see no want of patriotism in stating plainly and frankly the 
means of annoyance that England possesses ; and I think the course 
of my honorable friend from Delaware upon that subject was equal- 
ly patriotic and injudicious. There is said to be a bird in the des- 
ert, which hides its head in- the sand, and then thinks it is safe from 
danger, because it cannot see it. Let us not imitate this folly. Let 
us look directly at what we must encounter, if we are forced to 
Avar, and then let us behave like reasonable men, and make reason- 
able preparation to meet it. 

I see it said in a late London Herald, that we cannot carry on 
war, because we cannot procure the means to meet the necessary 
expenditures. The same assertion has been made in some of our 
own journals, and even by higher authority. The Senator from 
South Carolina has referred in this connexion to a venerable man, 
for whom, and for whose patriotic services, I have great and sin- 
cere respect, who has awakened from a political slumber of almost 
a quarter of a century, and presents himself to his countrymen with 
elaborate statistical tables, showing the pecuniary cost of war, and 
the burdens it brings with it. All this is unnecessary. It is taught 
in the very horn-book of national expenditures. Ours is not a ques- 
tion of the cost of war, but of its necessity. That same eminent 
man, the survivor of the cabinets of Mr. Jefferson and of Mr. Ma- 
dison, was understood, in 1812, to entertain a similar repugnance 
against committing the destinies of his country to war, which he 
now exhibits, and to foreshadow similar difficulties. I do not know 
if the fact be so. I can repeat only the rumors of that day. It 
was then asserted and believed, that some report or document from 
the Secretary of the Treasury was intended to dampen the nation- 
al ardor, by an imposing array of the contributions it would be ne- 
cessary to levy upon the country, in the event of war, and thus to 
prevent its occurrence. But the effort, if made, was useless then, 
^nd it will be useless now. The war went on, because it could 
not be avoided without a sacrifice of the national rights and hon- 
or, and it came to a glorious conclusion. It pushed us forward in 
all the elements of advancement. And as we did then so shall we 
do now. If a war is forced upon us, we shall meet it with its dan- 
gers and its responsibilities. No array of figures will stop the peo- 
ple in their patriotic course. You might as well attempt to stop 
the surges of the ocean beating upon the sea coast by marks in 
the sand, which the first wave sweeps away, and then passes on. 

As to this notion, that a war cannot be maintained without cash 



268 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS, 

enough in the possession of the Government to carry it on, or the 
means of procuring it at any time by loans, the two successful ex- 
periments we have made have demonstrated its fallacy. I do not 
stop to point out the peculiarities in our condition which prevent 
our national exertions from being paralyzed by deficient resources. 
They are to be found in the spirit and patriotism of our people ; 
in the common interest they feel in a Government, established 
by them, and responsible to them; in the system of private credit, 
which almost makes part of our institutions, and which often sep- 
arates by wide intervals the purchase and the payment ; in the abun- 
dance and cheapness of the necessaries of life, and in the military 
ardor which stimulates our young men and sends them to the stand- 
ard of their country. No modern Croesus, be a king of financiers, 
or a financier of kings, holds in his hands the action of this Gov- 
ernment. But even in Europe, a decisive experiment has shown, 
that the exertions of a nation are not to be crippled by a crippled 
treasury. One of the great errors of Mr. Pitt arose from his be- 
lief, that as the French resources and credit were deranged and 
almost destroyed, therefore, France was incapable of the necessary 
efforts to defend herself against the formidable coalition, at the 
head of which England placed herself, and to maintain which she 
poured out her blood as freely as her treasure. But the result 
proved the folly and the fallacy of all this, notwithstanding the de- 
preciation of the French paper, and the difficulties consequent 
upon it. What was the progress and the result of this effort to pre- 
vent a people from changing and reorganizing their government, 
is written upon the pages of a quarter of a century of war, and still 
more plainly upon the oppressed taxation of England ; which now 
weighs upon her present condition like an incubus, and overshad- 
ows her future with dark clouds of adversity. 

I now propose to submit some observations upon the remarks 
presented to the Senate a few days since, by the distinguished 
Senator from South Carolina. The originality of his views, and 
the force of the illustrations with which they were supported, give 
them great consideration ; and as it seems to me, that in some im- 
portant particulars, their tendency is erroneous, I desire to com- 
municate the impression they made upon me. 

While I shall do this, with the freedom which a sincere search 
after truth justifies, I shall do it with the respect that the eminent 
services and high character of the Senator justify, and that an un- 
interrupted friendship of thirty years, which has been to me a 
source of great gratification, naturally inspires. 

The Senator states, that when this proposition for notice to ter- 
minate the joint occupancy of Oregon was first submitted for con- 
sideration, he was opposed to it. But that now he is in favor of 
it in some modified form ; the form, I believe, it assumes in the 
resolution of the Senator from Georcria. 

That his motives of action were the same in both cases — a de- 
sire to preserve the peace of the two countries ; that in the former 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 269 

part of the session, he tliought the notice would lead to war, and 
therefore he opposed it; that he thinks now it would lead to peace, 
and therefore he favors it. 

Certainly, Mr. President, this is consistent ground for any man 
to occupy. A change of action on questions of expediency, where 
circumstanses have changed, is a dictate of true wisdom. He 
who boasts he has never changed, boasts, in fact, that the lesson of 
experience have been lost upon him ; and that he grows older with- 
out growing wiser. But before a change takes place in our appro- 
.bation or condemnation of a great question of national policy, the 
reasons which dictate it should be carefully considered, and clearly 
established. 

Has this been done by the Senator from South Carolina? I 
think not. He assumes the very fact, upon which his whole argu- 
ment rests. He assumes that a great change has taken place both 
in this country and in England, in public opinion upon this subject, 
which will necessarily lead to a compromise, and thus to an ami- 
cable adjustment of this serious and long pending controversy. 

Of the fqct itself, thus alleged, the Senator furnishes no proof. 
Indeed, he attempts to furnish none. He merely says: "There is 
one point, in which we must all be agreed, that a great change 
has taken place since the commencement of this discussion in re- 
lation to notice, in its bearings upon the question of peace or war." 
"Public opinion has had time to develope itself, not only on this, 
but on the other side of the Atlantic, and that opinion has pro- 
nounced most audibly and clearly in favor of compromise." 

"As things now stand, I no longer regard it as a question whether 
the controversy shall be pacifically arranged or not, nor even in 
what manner it shall be arranged. 1 regard the arrangement now 
simply a question of time," &lc. 

Mr. President, I cannot partake this confidence. The signs of 
the times are anything but auspicious to me. It will be per- 
ceived, that the annunciation thus certainly made of the peaceful 
termination of this matter, rests upon the change in public opinion 
and upon the conviction, that ibth Governments are ready to com- 
promise, and both prepared to come to the same line ; so nmch so, 
indeed, that the Senator adds, " he trusts that in concluding it 
there will be no unnecessary delay. 

In all this, sir, I am under the impression, there is a great mis^ 
apprehension. As to the universality of the proposition, that all 
are agreed as to this change, I know there is an error. For my- 
self, my conviction is as strong as human conviction can be, not 
only that the change thus indicated has not taken place, but that 
a great change has been going on in a contrary direction. I be- 
lieve that the opposition to a compromise upon the parallel of 49'^ 
has increased, is increasing, and will go on to increase ; and that 
both here and in England, public opinion is less confident in an 
amicable settlement of this dispute. I shall not pursue this matter 
into its details. I will merely remark, that the evidences of pub- 



270 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

lie opinion, which reach us, whether borne here by betters, by 
newspapers, by the declarations of conventions, or by the resolu- 
tions of legislative bodies, is decisive and indisputable. And, in 
proof of this, look at the passage of the resolutions in the House of 
Representatives by a majority almost unknown in a free country 
upon a great question like this, and involving such momentous 
consequences ; and this, too, when the Senator says, he thought 
their passage would lead to war. And what say the advices from 
England ? They speak a language as positive, as it is minatory. 
What says the " Standard," of March 3d, the great Tory organ? 
I will tell vou : " But will the American Congress confirm the in- 
Solent and unwarrantable tone adopted by this braggadocio ?" Sfc. 
And the person thifs denominated by these models of all that is 
decorous, so often recommended to us for our study, is the Presi- 
dent of this great Republic. " And dreadful as is the alternative, 
it will be with the utmost difficulty that any British Minister can 
escape fiom it with honor." The last London Times that I have 
seen says : 

" The joint navigation of the Columbia, the right of harbors on 
the sea-coast, and the right of traffic for the Hudson Bay Company 
on one bank of the river, are, we think, demands neither unjust 
nor extravagant." The London Gazette, of March 3d, says : — 
" The news from the United States justijies the fears 7ce have re- 
jpeatcdly expressed of the determined spirit of liostiJity whicJs per- 
vades a poicerf ill parti/ in the United States." The London Sun, 
a neutral paper, says : "The news from this country has produced 
a strong feeling of indignation among our commercial circles ; and 
those who have all along opposed the e.xpediency of war, on ac- 
count of mercantile connexions, now openly claim a vindication of 
the honor of the country at the hands of the Executive." " The 
feeling everywhere is, that England, having shown as much for- 
bearance as is compatible with her station in in the scale of na- 
tions, is now called upon to treat the proceedings of the American 
legislators with the contempt they deserve." The Liverpool Cou- 
rier of March 4th, says : "The c(j||sequences to which it may lead 
(the refusal to arbitrate) may be most calamitous. But the Amer- 
icans will only have themselves to blame, if war ensues ; for Eng- 
land has done all in her power to bring matters to a satisfactory 
and peaceful issue." Such are the evidences of public opinion m 
England, which the last packet brought us; and of the favorable 
change there, which renders a compromise certain, and a question 
only of time. 

The honorable Senator has referred, in this conne.xion, to the 
declaration of Sir Robert Peel, made some time since in the Brit- 
ish House of Commons, that he regretted their Minister had not 
transmitted to his Government the proposition of a compromise 
upon the parallel of 49 degrees ; that if not satisfactory, it might 
have been made the basis of a modified offer. I am not inclined to 
draw as favorable a conclusion, however, as the honorable Sena- 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 271 

tor, from this incidental remark, made, not to us, but in tlie course 
of a Parliamentary discussion. In fact, it is so cautiously express- 
ed, as to lead to no useful deduction respecting his real views. It 
is a mere barren remark. Had the Premier intended it should 
produce any practical consequences, he would have conmiunicated 
to our Government the views of the British Cabinet, and would have 
accepted the offer, or returned it with the proposed modification. 
But we hear nothing of this disapprobation — no, not disapproba- 
tion, but of soft regret at the hasty decision of the British Minister 
here — till six months after it took place, and then we learn it in 
the public debates, and that is the last of it. It is to me a curious 
chapter in the history of British diplomacy, that a Minister would 
venture to take the grave responsibility of rejecting such a propo- 
sition, without referring it to his Government, and he is not even 
censured for it. If he had been recalled, or a successor sent out, 
with instructions to accept the propositions made by our Govern- 
ment for a compromise, we should then have had a proof of sin- 
cerity better than a barren declaration, and w'hich might have led 
to a belter state of feeling 

The Senator from South Carolina has entered at some length 
into a defence of his views respecting the acquisition of Oregon, 
by what is called the process of masterly inactivity. And if he has 
not made converts to his opinion, he has gained many admirers of 
his talents by his masterly vindication of it. 

Certainly, sir, it is often the part of true wisdom in this world 
to stand still — to wait for time and circumstances. There is a 
great deal of wisdom in old proverbs, and one of them says, "Let 
well enough alone." Time has wrought many v.'onders for our 
country, and is destined to work many more. The practical diffi- 
culty is, to determine when inaction should cease and action com- 
mence, and how the operations of time can be best aided by enter- 
prise and industry. The honorable Senator says, that circumstan- 
ces have got ahead of his system, and that he adverts to the sub- 
ject, not to apply it, but to defend it. It seems to me, sir, it never 
could have produced the results the Senator anticipated, and pro- 
duced them peacefully. 

Here was an open question, which, for almost forty years, had 
occupied the attention of the two countries, which had been kept 
at arm's length by an improvident arrangement, instead of being 
grappled with and adjusted, as it could have been, and should have 
been, long agro, and which had at length increased to a fearful 
magnitude ; and, what is still more, had begun to enlist passions 
and feelings, and interests, that threatened to take the controversy 
from the pen, and to commit it to the sword. The claims of two- 
great countries to a distant territory were unsettled, and in a con- 
dition unprecedented in the history of national intercourse. Each 
with a right to occupy the whole of the territory, but each liable 
to have this right defeated by the previous action of the other par- 
ty — each holding a remote possession", beginning to fill up by emi- 



<J72 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

gration with their respective citizens and subjects, hardy, enterpri- 
sing, and somewhat pugnacious, intermingled upon the same soil, 
seizing it as they could, and holding it as they might, without any 
of those improvements, which require for their creation and sup- 
port the joint and legal action of a community, and wholly irre- 
sponsible for their acts towards one another, except through the 
medium of tribunals belonging to the party claiming allegiance 
over the ao-gressor, and possessing no sympathy with the complai- 
nant. The end of all this may be foreseen without the gift of se- 
cond sight. Collisions must be inevitable. The only wonder is, 
they have not already occurred. And the first gun that is fired up- 
on the Columbia, will send its echoes to the Potomac and the 
Thames. And think you, that the matter will be coolly examined, 
dispassionately discussed, and amicably arranged? No, sir; each 
nation will believe its own story, and both will be ready to arm, 
and assert^ its honor, and defend its citizens. All history is full of 
these indictments ; and the peace of two great nations is now held 
by the slightest tenure, dependent upon passions and interests to 
be called into fierce action upon the shores that look out upon 
China and Japan. We are told that time is the great physician, 
who mio-ht have cured this disordered state of our political aflfairs. 
I am a firm believer in the silent and ceaseless operations of that 
mighty agent. But this case was beyond its power. If, indeed, 
time would stand still for one of the parties, and move only for the 
other — stand still for England, and move on for us — our state of 
progress would soon pour through the passes of the Rocky Moun- 
tain's a host of emigrants who would spread over all the hills and 
vallies from the summit of that great barrier to that other barrier, 
the ocean itself, which says to the advancing settlements, — Come 
no farther. But neither time nor England would stand still. Her 
Government is sagacious, alive to her interests, and ready to main- 
tain them. She knows the value of the country as well as we do, 
and appreciates it perhaps higher. No one can read the speeches 
in the House of Commons on the 4th of April last, without being 
sensible, that the subject, in all its extent, has occupied the atten- 
tion of the British Government, and that the country itself will 
occupy its fostering care. Think you that that Government would 
have continued to see band after band of our citizens leaving our 
frontier settlements, lost to human observation almost for months 
while passing through the desert with its toils, its privations, and 
its dangers, and finally emerging into the land of promise, to seize 
it, and to hold it, and would have looked calmly on, receding as 
we advanced, retreating to the hill as we descended into the valley, 
and finally yielding us quiet possession of this long disputed ter- 
ritory? lie, who does not believe all this, must believe that time 
would not have peacefully adjusted this controversy for us. But, 
besides, this process of adjustment does not assume that our right 
to exclude the British from the country will be increased by settle- 
ment. It may add strength to our power, but none to our title. 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 273 

It does not presuppose that war is to be averted, but only postpon- 
ed. The rights of England, at the end of any given period, will 
be precisely what they now are; and, unless she sliould voluntarily 
relinquish them, a conflict would be inevitable. It seems to me 
very clear, that if she would ever be disposed to abandon the coun- 
try, she would do it now, when the disparity of force there is not 
such as to cast the reproach of timidity upon her counsels, and 
when the number of her subjects is not such as to render difficult 
a satisfactory arrangement for them. 

Mr. President, the Senator from South Carolina has held up to 
our view a sombre picture of the calamities, which a war with 
England would bring upon the United States — too sombre, sir, if I 
am not utterly ignorant of the history and condition of my coun- 
try, and of the energy and spirit of my countrymen. I shall not 
examine it feature by feature ; but there are certain portions I de- 
sire to present to the Senate. 

What probable circumstances could require this country to keep 
up a military and naval force of two hundred thousand men for 
ten years — the land portion of it divided into seven great armies — 
I confess my utter inability to conjecture. Why the honorable 
Senator fixes upon that period for the duration of the war, I know 
not. It is so wholly conjectural as to elude the application of any 
principle to it. Long before its expiration, if we are not utterly 
unworthy of our name and our birthright, we should sweep the 
British Power from the continent of North America, and the re- 
mainder of the time must be occupied by predatory incursions up- 
on the coast and by hostilities upon the ocean. The dangers or 
disasters, which this state of things brings with it, would require 
but a small portion of the force considered necessary by the Sena- 
tor. As to Mexico, I trust we shall bear much from her. We 
owe that to our own strength and to her weakness; to our own 
position, not less than to the situation of her Government and to 
the quasi civil war, which seems to be the curse of her condition. 
But should we be driven to put forth our strength, peace would 
ensue, and speedily ; but it would be a peace dictated in her capi- 
tal, and placing her political destiny at our disposition. 

And besides, during the progress of such a war, to which the 
honorable gentleman alludes, who can tell the sphere of its opera- 
tions, and what nations would become parties to it 1 How soon 
would the great maritime questions of our day present themselves 
for solution? How lonji would it be before England would revive 
and enforce those belligerent pretensions, which drove us to war 
when we were neutral, and which would drive other nations to 
war occupying the same position ? How long before the violation 
of her flag would arouse the public feeling of France, and compel 
her Government to vindicate its honor 1 And who can tell whaf 
war of principles and opinions would come to add its excitement 
and passions to the usual struggles of contending nations ? The 
world is, indeed, in comparative repose ; but there are causes in 

18 



274 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

operation which, if quickened into action by peculiar circumstan- 
ces, might shake the institutions of Europe to their very founda- 
tions. I consider a war between England and the United States 
for ten years, or for half of that time, utterly impossible, without 
bringing into collision the great questions of our day — the right to 
govern and the duty to submit — and into fierce action the interests 
and passions, which such a struggle would excite — a struggle that 
must come, but which such a war would accelerate. 

In order that I may remove even the possibility of misinterpre- 
ting the sentiments of the Senator, I will read an extract or two 
from his speech. After alluding to the material horrors of war, 
and doing justice to the courage of his countrymen, he adds, that 
a war between us and Great Britain, such as has been described, 
" in which every nerve and muscle would be strained to the ut- 
most, and every dollar put in requisition which could be command- 
ed, could not fail, under present circumstances, to work most dis- 
astrous, and I fear incurable changes in the social condition of 
our people, and in their political institutions." He then adverts 
to the consequences of such a war, drawing after it a Mexican 
war and an Indian war. He thinks we should need two fleets, six 
or seven armies, one hundred million of dollars annually, and a 
proportionate system of taxation. He then continues, after show- 
ing the destruction of the State governments, and the consolida- 
tion of all power in the central authority, and that our very suc- 
cess would engender a spirit inconsistent with the genius of our 
Government : " It would then be a straight and downward road, 
which leads to where so many free States have terminated their 
career — a military despotism. In the mean time we should have 
to provide for three or four successful generals, who would soon 
be competing for the presidency, and before the generation, which 
would have waged the war would have passed away, they might 
possibly witness a contest between hostile generals for that su- 
preme office — a contest between him who might conquer Mexico 
and him who might conquer Canada, terminated by the sword." 

But permit me to ask the Senator from South Carolina, if all 
this were so, if his anticipations were certain, instead of being 
puely gratuitous, ought the assurance of such events to come 
from him, from such a high authority, in so high a place? In the 
Senate of the United States, and from one who has filled some of 
the most important positions in our Government ; whose servi- 
ces and talents, and character, give him great consideration with 
his countrymen ; who possesses a European fame ; and whose 
opinions are quoted 'at this moment in London and Paris as indi- 
cations of our policy, and of the final result of this controversy ? 
Is it well thus to announce to the world our incapacity to defend 
ourselves? For that is in fact the result. A government dissolv- 
ed, or rather changed to a despotism, a country ruined, and even- 
tually its fragments a prey to ambitious generals, as the empire of 
Alexander was partitioned among his lieutenants ! War, then, 



LIFE or GENERAL CASS. 275 

becomes not a measure of safety, but a signal of destruction to 
the American people. We are powerless to defend ourselves. If 
we are struck upon one cheek, we must turn the other ; not in a 
spirit of Christian chanty, but in the despair of helplessness. We 
are bound together by a fair-weather Government, incapable of 
riding out the storms of foreign aggression. Submission must be 
our refuge, for beyond submission is destruction. We shall ex- 
hibit the extraordinary spectacle of a great people, great in all the 
elements of power and prosperity, saying to the world, in effect, 
we cannot contend' with England ; we are at her mercy, for even 
success would ruin us. 

Now, sir, this is not so. There is not one man within the sound 
of my voice whose heart does not tell him, such ha>i not hccn your 
past — such icill not he your future. The honorable Senator, in 
looking at the real calamities of war, which I seek neither to con- 
ceal nor to deny, has suffered himself to overrate them. They 
have struck him more forcibly than they should do. The experi- 
ment of two wars with England, into which we entered, and from 
which we issued gloriously, puts the stamp of error upon these sad 
forebodings. How they pushed us forward, in character and po- 
sition among the nations of the earth, I need not tell ; nor need I 
say, that the march of this country in all that constitutes the pow- 
er and happiness of a people, is a practical proof, that those con- 
flicts left no wounds upon our institutions, and but temporary 
checks upon our prosperity. 

The honorable Senator has appealed to his past history in proof, 
that in presenting these views he acted in no unmanly fear for 
himself, and .that if war comes, he would be among the last to 
flinch. No, Mr. President, no one in this nation doubts that his 
course would be firm and patriotic, should war be forced upon us. 
But he will- permit me also to appeal ; to appeal from the Senator 
of 1846 to the Representative of 1813. He is the Ultimus Ro- 
manorum — the last of the Romans ; the sole survivor among us 
of a generation of statesmen, who have passed from the. legislative 
service of their country. The last of the actors, not of the sign- 
ers, w'ho gave to the world our second declaration of independ- 
ence, scarcely inferior in its causes and consequences to the first. 
He came here young, unknown to his country. He left these halls 
with a maturity of fame, which rarely falls to the lot of any states- 
man. I was then upon the frontier, and well do I remember with 
what straining eyes and beating hearts we turned towards the Cap- 
itol, to know if the honor and interests of our country would be 
asserted and maintained. There were then two men here, upon 
whom, more than upon any others, perhaps more than upon all 
others, devolved the task of advocating the war, and of carrying 
through the measures of the Administration. And nobly did they 
perform theic duty. They were the honorable Senator from South 
Carolina,, and a retired statesman, Mr. Clay, from whom, though 
it has been my fortune to differ in the party contests that divide 



276 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

OS, yet it has always been ray pride to do justice to his eminent 
qualities, and to his high services to his country, and especially to 
liis :<ervices during our last contest with England. They were the 
leaders of that great legislative war, who, like the Homeric he- 
roes, threw themselves into the middle of the fight, and fought the 
battles of their party and of their country, with equal talents, firm- 
jiess, and success. 

As to the evils of war, he of us is blind to all historical experi- 
ence, who does not see them, and unfaithful to his position, who 
does not acknowledge them. There is no such representative of 
the States here. We all acknowledge the evils of war, both moral 
asd material. We differ as to their degree, and as to the power 
of this country to endure and to inflict them. While the condi- 
tion of England presents great means of annoyance, it presents 
also palpable elements of weakness. I am not her panegyrist. I 
shall never be accused of that. But if I see the defects of her 
national character, I can see also her redeeming virtues. I am 
sensibly alive to the acts of injustice she has done us. The feel- 
ing is deposited at my heart's core. But I do not shut my eyes, 
either to her power or to the virtues she actually possesses. I need 
Bot tell what she has done to attract the admiration of the world ; 
for her deeds of war and peace are written upon many a bright 
page of human story. She has reached a commanding eminence 
among the powers of the earth — a giddy eminence ; and I believe 
she will find it an unstable one. 1 do not, however, estimate her 
present position as high as many do, and I consider it as unsafe 
as almost any one can. The elements of her weakness lie upon 
the very surface of her affairs, open to the most careless observer. 
Bui she has great military and naval establishments, and she is 
aiJgmenting and extending them. I am not going to spread be- 
fore the Senate the statistics of her powers of annoyance and de- 
fence. This has been sufficiently done already. But I will ex- 
press my decided conviction, that these tabular statements give an 
exaggerated picture of her condition. Old vessels, old guns, mere 
hulks, invalids, the relics of half a century of war, are arranged 
in formidable lists of figures, and go on to swell the general ag- 
gregate. 

Besides, she has peculiar drawbacks to the exertion of her pow- 
er. The seeds of danger are sown in the most important pro- 
vince of her home empire, and may at any time start up into an 
abundant harvest of ruin and disaster. The dragon's teeth may 
become armed men. 

She has possessions round the world to retain, and in many of 
them a discontented population to restrain. Her commerce, the 
■very foundation of her prosperity and greatness, is scattered over 
all the bays, and inlets, and gulfs, and seas of the world ; and he 
•who knows the daring character and enterprise of our people, 
inows that our public and private armed vessels would almost 
sweep it from existence. But I shall not pursue this investigation 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. ' 277 

further. While I believe she will go to war with us, if she can- 
not escape from it without wholly sacrificing her own honor, as 
she views the question, I recollect she has done so twice before, 
with no c-edit to herself, but with imperishable glory for us. 

A few words as to the condition of her finances, and her means 
of carrying on a war. It is said to be the last feather, that breaks 
the camel's back. That the time will come when the artificial 
and oppressive fiscal system of England must break down, and, 
like the strong man of Israel, involve her existing institutions in 
the fall, is as certain as any future political event can be. But 
that time has not yet come, and he must be a bolder or a wiser 
man than I am, to predict when it will come. She has the same 
means now to meet her war expenditures, which she has long had: 
the power of drawing upon the future for the exigencies of the 
present, leaving the generations to come to pay the debt, or to cast 
it off, like a burden too heavy to be borne. At this very moment 
she is making an experiment, which will be almost a revolution. 
A wise experiment, as I believe, but still a fearful one, for an old 
society, whose habits are fixed, and which accommodates itself 
with difficulty even to gradual changes. 

As to the points of contrast between our condition and that of 
England, they are before the world ; and for the purposes of peace 
or war, we need not fear the most searching examination. 

Happen what may, we can neither be overrun nor conquered. 
England might as well attempt to blow up the rock of Gibraltar 
with a squib, as to attempt to subdue us. I suppose an English- 
man even never thinks of that, and I do not know that I can ex- 
hibit in stronger terms its impossibility. 

I might easily spread before the Senate our capacity to annoy a 
maritime adversary, and to sweep the British flag from this part of 
the continent ; but I forbear. What we have twice done in the 
days of our comparative weakness, we can repeat and far exceed 
in these days of our strength. While, therefore, I do not conceal 
from myself, that a war with England would temporarily check 
our progress, and lead many evils in its train, still I have no fear 
of the issue, and I have an abiding confidence, that we shall come 
out of it, not indeed unharmed, but with all the elements of our 
prosperity safe, and with many a glorious achievement written on 
the pages of our history. 

It pains me, sir, to hear allusions to the destruction of this Gov- 
ernment, and to th6 dissolution of this confederacy. It pains me, 
not because they inspire me with any fear, but because we ought 
to have one unpronounceable word, ag the Jews had of old, and 
that word is dissohttion. We should reject the feeling from our 
hearts and its name from our tongues. This cry of " wo, wo, to 
Jerusalem," grates harshly upon my ears. Our Jerusalem is nei- 
ther beleaguered nor in danger. It is yet the city upon a hill, glo- 
rious in what it is, still more glorious, by the blessing of God, in 
what it is to be — a landmark, inviting the nations of the world, 



278 LIFE OP GENERAL CASS. 

struggling upon the stormy sea of political oppression, to follow us 
to a haven of safety and of rational liberty. No English Titus will 
enter our temple of freedom through a breach in our battlements, 
to bear thence the ark. of our constitution and the book of our 
law, to take their stations in a triumphal procession in the streets 
of a modern Rome, as trophies of conquest and proofs of submis- 
sion. 

Many a raven has croaked in my day, but the augury has fail- 
ed, and the Republic has marched onward. Many a crisis has 
presented itself to the imagination of our political Cassandras, but 
we have still increased in political prosperity as we have increased 
in years, and that, too, with an accelerated progress unknown to 
the history of the world. We have a class of men, whose eyes 
are always upon the future, overlooking the blessings around us, 
and for ever apprehensive of some great political evil, which is to 
arrest our course somewhere or other on this side of the milleni- 
um. To them, we are the image of gold, and silver, and brass, 
and clay, contrariety in unity, which the first rude blow of misfor- 
tune is to strike from its pedestal. 

For my own part, I consider this the strongest government on 
the face of the earth for good, and the weakest for evil. Strong, 
because supported by the public opinion of a people inferior to 
none of the communities of the earth in all that constitutes moral 
worth and useful knowledge, and who have breathed into their po- 
litical system the breath of life; and who would destroy it, as they 
created it, if it were unworthy of them, or failed to fulfil their just 
expectations. 

And weak for evil, from this very consideration, which would 
make its follies and its faults the signal of its overthrow. It is the 
only Government in existence which no revolution can subvert. 
It may be changed, but it provides for its own change, when the 
public will requires. Plots and insurrections, and the various 
struggles, by which an oppressed population manifests its sufier- 
ings and seeks the recovery of its rights, have no place here. We 
have nothing to fear but ourselves. 

And the Senator from South Carolina will permit me to remark, 
that the apprehension he expresses, th'at a war may bring forward 
military chieftains, who would ultimately establish their own pow- 
er upon the ruins of their country's freedom, is, in my opinion, if 
not the last of all the evils, one of the very last, which this Re- 
public has to fear. I will not stop to point out the circumstances 
of our position, character, and institutions, w^hich render a mili- 
tary despotism impossible in this country. They are written in 
burning characters, not u )on the wall, but upon the heart of every 
American ; and they need no seer to expound them. Our safety 
is our union ; our only fear, disunion. In the moral government 
of the world, national offences are punished by national calami- 
ties It may be that we may forsake the God of our fathers, and 
seek after strange gods. If we do, and are struck with judicial 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 279 

blindness, we shall but add another to the long list of nations un- 
worthy of the blessings acquired for them by preceding genera- 
tions, and incapable of maintaining them ;— but none as signally 
so as we. 

Mr. Benton, of Missouri, followed Gen. Cass, taking issue with 

him upon his geographical statements and questioning some of the 

authorities cited by him. To the remarks of Mr. Benton, Gen. 

Cass replied as follows : 

Mr. President, I have come here this morning to set myself 
free. Twice in my life I have been captured by enemies — 
once fighting against British pretensions in war, and again fight- 
ing against British pretensions in peace. My country redeemed 
me in the former case — I come to redeem myself in the latter. I 
say enemies, but I trust the term is only metaphorically applicable. 
There is nothing in the former relations between the honorable 
senator from Missouri and myself, nothing in our present position, 
which should make us enemies. On the contrary, a long personal 
friendship has existed between us, which I did not suppose was 
sundered. If, however, it is otherwise, I must bear it as I may. I 
have borne greater calamities than even the hostility of the honor- 
able gentleman from Missouri. 

I came here, sir, as I said before, to redeem myself: and I mean 
to do it : — to do it by correcting a misapprehension — by speaking 
the truth. 

' He i« the freeman, whom the truth makes free ; 
All else are slaves hesiile."' 

I will not speak in the triumphant tone which pervades the 
speech of the honorable senator from Missouri. It is not my hab- 
it. " Let not him that girdeth on his harness, boast himself as he 
that putteth it off." Let no man boast till the victory is won. And 
especially, let him not boast while his adversary is absent. What 
the senator said presents subjects enough for animadversion, but 
the manner in which he said it was still more unacceptable. I am 
ignorant of any circumstances, in our relative situations, which 
could justify it ; still, I repeat, that I mean to vindicate myself, 
and that, too, to the entire satisfaction of every man within the 
sound of my voice. 

Mr. Hannegan. Every impartial man. 

Mr. Cass. No, Mr. President : I will not accept the qualifica- 
tion suggested by my friend from Indiana. If my vindication is 
not satisfactory to every man, partial or impartial, I will agree to 
be tied to the chariot wheels of the honorable senator from Miss- 
ouri, and to fight the battles of forty-nine ; and I hardly know two 
more severe punishments, that could be inflicted upon me. 

The honorable senator says that I came here the other day to 
make a studied speech on the subject of Oregon. I did so, sir ; 
and he overates his own powers, and underates the mental quali- 



280 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

ties of the members of this body, who comes here to give his opin- 
ions upon a great national subject without due preparalioh. I shall 
not commit that folly ; and I have too much regard for the intelli- 
gence and experience of the honorable senator to believe that he 
would. I presume that his thoughts are fully prepared upon every 
grave topic, on which he presents his views to this body. But 
however it may have been before, I have not had much time for 
preparation now, for I was not in my seat yesterday when the hon- 
orable senp.tor made his attack, and of course I could not know, 
except from rumour, what he said till this morning. 

Now, sir, what is the subject in controversy between the honor- 
able senator and myself? He says that I am committed, by my 
own declaration, to go for forty-nine, if it is shown that commis- 
sioners were appointed under the treaty of Utrecht to establish that 
parallel as a boundary. This assertion is the whole foundation of 
his argument, upon which the whole superstructure rests. If the 
one falls, the other falls with it. Now, sir, 1 not only never said 
so, but the idea never occurred to me ; I never thought of it. And 
the honorable gentlemen has wholly misunderstood me, either 
through my fault or his own. 

He has erected a fortification for me, and battered it down with 
his own cannon. I choose to be shut up in my own defensive 
works only. If these are carried by siege or by storm, then I will 
surrender. But let me be my own engineer. 

My position was this, sir. Many of the members upon this floor 
contend that the parallel of forty-nine degrees is the northern bound- 
ary of our claim in Oregon. tSome directly so, and others because 
it was assumed to be such by our government in the early period 
of our controversy on this subject with England. To us, there- 
fore, who believe that our claim in Oregon goes to fifty-four de- 
grees forty minutes, it was essential to show there was an error on 
this subject — that the treaty of Utrecht never extended to the 
country west of the Rocky mountains. 

Mr. Greenhow, in his work on Oregon, had examined this ques- 
tion, and had endeavored to show that no commissioners, under 
the treaty of Utrecht, had ever established any boundary between 
the French and English possessions on this continent. So far as 
respects the general proposition, it is a mere question of historical 
authenticity, not having the slightest practical bearing upon our ti- 
tle to Oregon. Because, before our title to Oregon could be af- 
fected, it must be shown that that line, if established at all, must 
have extended west of the Rocky mountains. 

Mr. Greenhow, in his work, enters into the question, and I re- 
ferred to his book as one entitled to talent, industry and caution ; 
and I requested gentlemen, who had doubts on this subject, to turn 
to that work, and I thought they would satisfy themselves, that no 
such line had been established. I did not vouch for the facts or 
conclusions. I never examined the general subject in its extent. 
I stated, however, ;that the result of his discussion .upon my mind 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS 281 

was, that such a line had not been run. I am still under that im- 
pression, sir, and nothing that was said yesterday has shaken its 
strength. Still I do not hold myself at all responsible for Mr. 
C4reenhow's accuracy. I should investigate the subject with far 
more care than I have done, if I were to be held responsible for 
deductions resting upon any other man's assertions. 

The senator from Missouri says he comes here not to settle a 
point, which can at all influence the action of this body, or have 
the slightest effect upon the termination of our controversy with 
England. He says he "makes no application of thi-s fact," refer- 
ring to his proof that the parallel of forty-nine was established 
somewhere by the treaty of Utrecht. He says, " I draw no argu- 
ment from it. I do not apply it to the question of title. I am 
not arguing title, and will not do it ; but I am vindicating history, 
assailed in a vital point by the book which has been quoted and 
endorsed. I am vindicating the intelligence of the American Se- 
nate, exposed to contempt in the eyes of Europe, by a supposed 
ignorance of a treaty which is one of the great political landmarks 
in Europe and America," 6lc. 

The Senator will pardon me for saying that this seems to me 
very much of a tempest in a teapot. What does he profess to vin- 
dicate before the Senate of the United States ? Not the rights of 
the country, but the alleged truth of an historical fact, misrepre- 
sented by Mr. Greenhow, and vouched for, as the Senator thinks, 
by me. Now, sir, it seems to me, that this solemn trial, before 
such a court as this, is hardly justified by the nature of the accu- 
sation. Here is an historical error. Be it so. Nobody contends 
that it affects our interests or our honor in the remotest degree ; 
no more so than the parentage of Romulus and Remus. This is 
not a lecture room. We are neither professors nor students, as- 
sembled here to discuss the truth or falsehood of historical state- 
ments, which have no relation to our duties. And it seems to me, 
also, that Europe will know little, and care less, respecting this 
grave controversy, now S7(b judice, before this high tribunal. I 
doubt if its fame reaches there. I rather imagine, that, in that 
quarter of the globe, there are other, if not graver, subjects to en- 
gage the attention of both Governments and people, than historic 
doubts, involving Mr. Greenhow's accuracy and my credulity. 

Still, sir, as this question is thus brought before us, I shall pro- 
ceed to give a brief synopsis of it, and leave honorable Senators 
to judge for themselves. The Senator from Missouri has brought 
forward three principal facts, to prove that the parallel of 49 de- 
grees was established by commissioners under the treaty of Utrecht. 
The first is a dispatch from Mr. Madison to Mr. Monroe ; the se- 
cond, a statement submitted by Mr. Monroe to Lord Ilarrowby ; 
the third — I put them together, for the honorable gentleman has 
joined them — Postlethwayt's Dictionary and D'Anville's maps. 

Before proceeding further, sir, I beg to remark, that the hono- 
rable Senator, in quite a taunting tone, contrasts my investigation 



283 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. • 

of this matter with his own. He goes to the fountain-head, the 
authentic documents, and there finds the truth ; while T go to the 
turbid stream, and am thence "led astray," and thus have wander- 
ed into the enemy's camp, and have become a prisoner. And 
what are those authentic documents which the honorable Senator 
has sought and found, and pored over with the midnight lamp, to 
educe the truth? Why, Postlethwayt's Commercial Dictionary, 
containing a map ! This is all, literally all ! — a work long since 
referred to by Mr. Greenhow in his book, and examined by him. 

Now, sir, the first reflection which strikes a man is this, that if 
this line were thus established, the proof of it might have been got 
forty years ago from the archives of Paris or London. That would 
be positive and undeniable evidence, and all short of it is incon- 
clusive, and such as no tribunal of justice would receive as final. 

Before any man assumes the existence of such a line as a bar- 
rier to his country's claims he ought to prove it, not by loose de- 
ductions from loose historical notices, but by an authentic copy of 
the act of the commissioners. 

But what says Mr. Madison ? The honorable Senator from Mis- 
souri says, "the fact of commissaries having acted, was assumed 
for certain." The lano-uagfe of Mr. Madison reads far otherwise 
to me. As I stated the other day, he speaks doubtfully upon the 
subject ; and I repeat the assertion, notwithstanding the contrary 
averment of the Senator from Missouri. ''There is reason to be- 
lieve," said Mr. Madison to Monroe, "that the boundary between 
Louisiana and the British territories north of it was actually fixed 
by commissaries appointed under the treaty of Utrecht." 

He then adds, that he sends a paper, containing the authority 
respecting this arieged decision ; but he adds cautiously : " But 
you will perceive the necessity of recurring to the proceedings of 
the commissaries as the source of authentic information. These 
are not within our reach here, and it must be left to your own re- 
searches and judgment to determine the proper use to be made of 
them." If this is certainty, I should like to know what uncer- 
tainty is. The honorable Senator regrets, that I had not looked 
into the original documents, instead of depending on Greenhow, 
and thus becoming "his dupe and his victim" — not very courte- 
ous words these, by-the-by — and that if I had done so, I would 
not have said that Mr. Monroe had not added any thing to Mr. 
Madison's statement, and had left the question as doubtful as he 
had found it. " Li point of fact," says the Senator, "Mr. Mon- 
roe added the particulars, of which Mr. Madison declared his ig- 
norance — added the beginning, the course and the ending of the 
line, and stated the vi'hole with the precision of a man, who had 
taken his information from the proceedings of the commission- 
ers." 

This is to me a strange view of the matter, sir. I cannot find 
that Mr. Madison refers to any particulars. He certainly does 
not use the word. It is the authenticity of the notice, enclosed 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 283 

by him, which he desires Mr. Monroe to ascertain. What the 
particulars were, contained in the notice, we do not know, as the 
paper itself cannot be found. That notice, as I shall show, or 
rather Greenhow has shown, there is every reason to believe, was 
an extract from Douglass' History of America. 

Before I proceed to examine \.\\e?>B particulars, I may be allow- 
ed to remark, that Mr. Msdison doubted with precisely the same 
facts, which we have before us — the map and book referred to by 
the honorable gentleman. And to this day, not one single circum- 
stance has been added, which could remove those doubts. Where, 
then, that illustrious man felt uncertainty, I may be permitted to 
feel a greater degree of it, in consequence of the direct and cir- 
cumstaftial evidence since discovered, leading to the presumption 
that no such line was established. But I repeat, sir, that in tliis 
investigation I do not profess to come to any absolute conclusion. 
It is a subject on which men may differ. The result of my e.x- 
amination impresses me with the conviction, that no such line was 
established. Mr. Monroe presented a memoir to Lord Harrowby, 
the Secretary of State, and I will now quote from the gentleman's 
speech that part of it, upon which he dwells, as showing " the be- 
ginning, courses, and end of the line, &c., with the precision of 
a man, who had taken his information from the proceedings of 
the commissaries." I will quote, also, the statement of Douglass, 
the historian of North America ; and no doubt can exist on the 
mind. of any man, that Mr. Monroe resorted to that authority for 
his statement, and not to the original archives : 

"Commissaries were accordingly ap- Donglass says, page 7; "By the treaty, 

pointed by each Power, who executed however, the Canada, or French line, 

the stipulations of the treaty in estab- with the Hudson Bay Company of Great 

lishing the boundaries proposed by it." Britain, was ascertained from a certain 

"They fixed the northern boundary of promontory upon the Atlantic ocean m 

Canada and Louisiana by a line begin- fi/ly-^ei^ht degrees, thirty minv.les of 

ning in the Atlantic, at a cape or pro- north latitude, to run southu-csi to Lake 

montory in fifty-eight degrees, thirty Mistissin; to be continued still southwest 

minutes north latitude; thence south- to the forty -ninth degree, and from 

westtoardly to the Lake Mistissin, thence thence due vjest indefinitely.'- 
further southwest to the latitude of forty' 
nine north from the equator, and along 
that line indefinitely." 

Now, sir, the honorable Senator from Missouri says that Mr. 
Monroe must have taken his information from the proceedings of 
the commissaries. No man can doubt but that Mr. Monroe quo- 
ted from Douglass' book. The language is so nearly identical as 
to render such a coincidence impossible, if it were accidental. 

The suggestion that Mr. Monroe went to the archives to pro- 
cure the jmrticulars, of which " Mr. Madison had declared his ig- 
norance," but of which declaration I cannot find a trace, seems 
to me very extraordinary, when we advert to Mr. Monroe's report. 
The proceedings in such a case as this, establishing a boundary 
between two great nations, extending over so large a portion of 
the surface of the globe, were never recorded in the language of 
Mr. Monroe. Who were the commissioners ? Where did they 



284 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

sit? What was the date of their action? Where was the con- 
firmation of their award by their Governments? What, in fact, 
■were the points indicated? " Beginning in the Atlantic, at a cape 
or promontory in fifty-eight degrees, thirty minutes north latitude!" 
A cape or promontory not named, but to be ascertained by its lati- 
tude ! And if the latitude were not correctly stated, what then? 
Suppose where that parallel struck the Atlantic, there was no cape 
or promontory ? And would any commissioners assume such an 
absolute knowledge of the topography of a remote and barren 
coast, as to make that fact the basis of their whole action ! Valid, 
if it were so; invalid, if it were not. 

But this loose language is not confined to the place of com- 
mencement. After leaving this " cape or promontory," this terra 
incognita, the line is to run southwesticardli/ to Lake Mistissin, 
an indefinite course, as will be seen, and nut rendered definite by 
indicating what part of the lake it was to strike. 

No reasonable doubt can exist, but that as Mr. Monroe employ- 
ed the language of Douglass, he took the statement from that his- 
torian. 

Mr. Monroe, however, presented the fact to Lord Harrowby, 
and it was not contradicted by him, so far as we know. 

From this negative circumstance the gentleman from Missouri 
draws the important conclusion, that the fact must have been so. 
I shall not enter into this matter, as it is not at all important. 

Mr. Monroe stated a fact that had occurred, if it occurred at 
all, a century before. It had in reality little, if any, bearing upon 
the subject he was urging, which was the right of the United 
States to " possess the territory lying between the lakes and the 
Mississippi, south of the parallel of the forty-ninth degree of lati- 
tude." 

It was to the treaty of 1783, that he was referring, and to Mitch- 
ell's map, by which it was formed. He adverts to the treaty of 
Utrecht by saying that " by running due west from the northwest- 
ern point of the Lake of the Woods to the Mississippi, according 
to the treaty of 1783, it must have been intended, according to 
the lights before them, to take the parallel of the forty-ninth de- 
gree of latitude, as established under the treaty of Utrecht." 

Now, sir, it might well be that Lord Harrowby never consider- 
ed it necessary to look into this alleged fact, as it had no real bear- 
ing on the subject, being alluded to merely as giving reasons, 
which may have influenced the commissioners in fi.xing the bound- 
aries of 1783. 

Most certainly his silence, under such circumstances, furnishes 
no solid proof — scarcely, I may say, a light presumption — in favor 
of this parallel of forty-nine degrees. 

The next proof of the establishment of this line given by the 
Senator, was Postlethwayt's Commercial Dictionary, with D'An- 
ville's map. There is no quotation from the dictionary, and the 
matter, therefore, rests on the map alone. 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 285 

The Senator then pointed out the line established under the 
treaty of Utrecht, and read the account of it as given in a note on 
the upper left-hand corner of the map. The description was in 
these words : 

" The line that parts French Canada from British Canada was 
settled hy commissaries after the peace of Utrecht, making a 
course from Davis's Inlet, on the Ailantic sea, down to the forltj- 
ninth degree, through the Lake Abitibis, to the Northern Ocean ; 
therefore Mr. D'Anville's dotted line east of James's Bay is 
false." 

The Senator then states that this map was " made by D'Anville 
the great French geographer of his age, and dedicated to the 
Duke of Orleans," &c., &c.; and he adds, it is the " authentic 
French testimony in favor of the line of Utrecht." 

Now, sir, it is not a little curious, that this map, thus authorita- 
tively pronounced to be authentic, is upon the very ftice of it sta- 
ted to be false in one important particular. What, then, becomes 
of the correctness of the assertion of the honorable Senator, and 
of the certainty of this testimony ? 

If wrong in one respect, it may be so in others, and at any rate 
our faith in its pretensions is entirely shaken. But I do not un- 
derstand by whom this note was written : evidently not by D'An- 
ville, for it impugns his own work. We have not, therefore, D'An- 
ville's authority for this line, as being established under the treaty 
of Utrecht. He marks the line upon his map, but whence his au- 
thority for it is left to conjecture.* 

One other point, sir. The honorable Senator states, that in an 
attempted negotiation with the British Government, durincr Mr. 
Jefferson's administration, two articles were proposed — one by the 
American commissioners, and one by the B.iitish — for the estab- 
lishment of a boundary between our country and Canada, from 
the northwestern point of the Lake of the Woods. The articles 

*Siich were the resalts suggested to me at tlie moment, naturally arising from the cir- 
cumstances. Taking the map to be D'Anville's, as f uuiierstood the honoralile Senator 
from Missouri to state, I could not conipn'herid by whom it was discredited ; as surely ihe 
French geographer would not have impugned his own work. From tlie existence sf an 
acknowledged error, I deduced the conclusion that the map was not entitled to be consid- 
eied " as the authentic French testimony in favor of the treaty of Utrecht." 

What, however, I did not understand then, I understand now. In conversailon with 
Col. Benton since, lie ha-i informed inc that this map is not the original work of U'Anville, 
but an English edition of it, by Bolton, vvitli alterations. 

This fact, of course, destroys the entire value ..f the map as authentic testimony, Bol- 
ton, in the above note, does not state that the parallel of fort.i-nine degrees as a boundary 
was marked upon D'.\nville's man. This Eiiglisli edition was published in London in 
1752, as great'.y improved by John Bolton. Mr. Greenhow, who has examined D'.Vnville'a 
original work, states, in an article published in the Union, April 3, 1840, that neither the 
parallel of Jorty-nine degrees as a boundary between Canada and the Hudson's Bay territo- 
ries, nor any other line passing through the same portion of the continent, is to be found on the 
real map of D'Anville. 

He states that the French geographer upon his map carried the boundary of the French 
and British possessions to the dividing land between the waters of the ocean and those of 
the lakes and of the Mississippi ; giving to France the whole country west of the moun- 
tains, including that situated upon the Alabama and its tributaries, He says Bolton im- 
proved upon this boundary, by carrying the British line to the forty-ninth parallel ; and if 
so, then what becomes of this " authentic French testimony, in favor of the line of 
Utrecht— that line upon which the Senator from Michigan has staked the reversal of bis 
Oregon position .'" 



286 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

are substantially the same, but with the difference which an exami- 
nation of them will show. 

The American projet provided : 

"That a line drawn due north or south (as the case may re- 
quire) from the northwestern point of the Lake of the Woods, un- 
til it shall intersect the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude, and 
with the said parallel shall be the southern boundary of his Ma- 
jesty's territories, and the northern boundary of the said territo- 
ries of the United States." 

The British projet, after providing for the running of a line 
north or south, as might be, from the northwestern point of the 
Lake of the Woods to the parallel of forty-nine degrees, provides 
that the "said parallel shall be the dividing line between his Ma- 
jesty's territories and those of the United States to the westward 
of the said lake, as far as their respective territories extend in that 
quarter : and that the said line shall to that extent form the south- 
ern boundary of his Majesty's said territories, and the northern 
boundary of the said territories of the United States." 

Each of these projels contains the same proviso, " That nothing 
in the present article shall be construed to extend to the northwest 
coast of America, or to the territories belonging to, or claimed 
by, either party, on the continent of America west of the Stoney 
Mountains." 

The Senator exclaimed triumphantly, " Here is concurrence in 
the proceedings of commissaries under the treaty of Utrecht." 
"Here is submission to that treaty on the part of the British," &c. 

In the first place, sir, allow me to remark that this was a mere 
projet, and that no treaty was made on the subject till eleven years 
afterwards, in 1818. Now, what is meant by "concurrence" 
here ? If accidental coincidence, the matter is not worthy of fur- 
ther inquiry. But if by " concurrence" is meant that this line 
was actually established by the treaty of Utrecht, and thus bind- 
ing on the parties, no other convention was necessary. Both na- 
tions, upon this assumption, misto.ok their own rights and their 
duties. The boundary had been established a century before, and 
thev were carrying on a useless and barren negotiation, which was 
thus blindly and unnecessarily ripened into a treaty in 1718. But, 
sir, the Senator proceeds to ask what Mr. Jefferson did with this 
projet, and adds, that he rejected it. And why, sir? The letter 
from Mr. Madison to Messrs. Monroe and Pinkney, dated July 
30th, 1807, states : • 

" The modification of the fifth article (noted as one which the 
British commissioners would have agreed to) may be admitted in 
case that proposed by you to them be not attainable. But it is 
much to be wished and pressed, though not made an ultimatum, 
that the proviso to both should be omitted. This is, in no view 
whatever, necessary, and can have little other effect than as an of- 
fensive intimation to Spain that our claims extend to the Pacific 
ocean. However reasonable such claims may be, compared with 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 287 

those of Others, it is impolitic, especially at the present moment, 
to strengthen Spanish jealousies of the United Str.tes, which it is 
probably an object with Great Britain to excite by the clause in 
question." 

Now, sir, Mr. Jefferson's object was not to offend Spain, and 
therefore he rejects a proviso, which expressly limits our claim to 
the Rocky Mountains, in order not to excite the jealousy of a 
most jealous nation, by even the appearance of interfering with 
her rights ; and yet the honorable Senator supposes that this very 
treaty-, without the proviso, was to run to the Pacific, claiming for 
us and England the whole country. And which would excite the 
jealousy of Spain most ? To say expressly the American (Tovern- 
ment will make no arrangement with that of England for pushing 
the American title west of the Rocky Mountains, or to form a 
treaty actually carrying this claim there without regard to Spanish 
rights ? It is obvious to me, that Mr. Jefferson did not believe in 
the English titte vvest of the Rocky Mountains as far as the Paci- 
fic ; and, therefore, making a treaty with that Power for the estab- 
lishment of a boundary between her and the United States would 
not justly give offence to Spain, as it would not call in question 
Spanish rights. 

The honorable gentleman has not said one word of Mr. Jeffer- 
son, in which I do not heartily concur. An abler or a purer states- 
man is rarely to be found in history. Time, which tries the fame 
of all men, and reduces the fame of most men, is rendering his 
brighter and brighter ; and we have scarcely a name in history — 
certainly but one — which is more revered by the American peo- 
ple, as that of a pure patriot and a consummate statesman. The 
honorable Senator will please to recollect, that this prcijet of Mr. 
Jefferson, under any circumstances, proves nothing, because — 

1. It was never carried into effect ; 

2. It was before the Florida treaty, by which we acquired the 
Spanish title ; 

8. It was formed under the impression, now shown to be an er- 
roneous one, that the parallel of forty-nine degrees had been estab- 
lished, under the treaty of Utrecht, as the northern boundary of 
Louisiana, extending to the Rocky Mountains. 

But after all, our rights remain as they were; and the opinions 
of such able and honest men as Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Madison, and 
Mr. Monroe, whatever those opinions may have been, though en- 
titled to very grave consideration, still leave the Government per- 
fectly free and unembarrassed by a projet proposed by them, but 
finally abandoned. Though, upon the assumption that the north- 
ern boundary of Louisiana was fixed by commissaries under the 
parallel of forty-nine degrees, I cannot understand why the par- 
ties negotiated at all ; and though I see no evidence, that the line 
proposed was intended as the recognition of an English title west 
of the Rocky Mountains, to the exclusion of Spain, but the con- 
trary ; yet I have such an abiding confidence in each of those 



288 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

statesmen, that I am fully satisfied the apparent facts within their 
reach justified their course, whatever that was intended to be. 

But, sir, what are the circumstances which render doubtful — I 
might say discredit — the establishment of this parallel of forty- 
nine degrees under the treaty of Utrecht ? I will refer here to a 
portion of an article published in the Union, February 24, 1846, 
and written by Mr. Greenhow : 

"On the" other hand, Mitchell's large map of America, publish- 
ed in 1755, under the patronage of the Colonial Department of 
Great Britain, which was consulted and adopted as authority by 
the British and American Plenipotentiaries in regulating the lim- 
its of the United States, in the treaty of 1783, presents a line 
drawn along the highlands separating the waters flowing into Hud- 
son's Bay from those of the St. Lawrence and the lakes, as the 
'boundary of Hudson's Bay by the treaty of Utrecht ;' and the 
same line appears on the map of America, in Smollett's History 
of England, published in 1760; on that of Bennett, in 1770; on 
that of Faden in 1777: and on some other maps of that time. 

•' In contradiction of all these opinions, no line of separation 
whatsoever between the Hudson's Bay territories and the French 
possessions, is to be found on the large and beautiiul map of Ame- 
rica, by Popple, published in 1738, (also under the patronage of 
the Colonial Department,) and bearing the certificate of Dr. Hal- 
ley to its correctness ; nor on any map in the Atlas of Maxwell 
and Senex, published in 1621 ; in Boyer's Political State, 1721; 
in the History of Hudson's Bay by Dobbs, the Governor of that 
territory, 1744 ; in the Histoire de la Nouvelle France, by Charle- 
voix, 1744 ; in the System of Geography, by Bowen, 1747; in the 
American Traveller, 1T69; in the American Atlas, by Jeffries, 
1778 ; in the History of the French Dominions in America, by 
Jeffries, 1760; nor in the map of America, from the materials by 
Governor Pownal, in 1794; nor is there any allusion to such a 
line in the works to which these maps are attached, or in any other 
work or map of reputation published during the last century, save 
those above mentioned. 

" None of the works above mentioned are authorities on the 
subject, proceeding, as they all do, from persons unconnected with 
the transactions of the Utrecht treaty, and possessing no better 
means, so far as known, of information respecting them than other 
people ; they, indeed, only show that the boundary was supposed 
by some persons to have been so settled at the time when they 
were written. 

" Of the works, which may be considered as authorities, the 
following, comprising, it is believed, all in which a record or no- 
tice of such a transaction, if it had taken place, should be found, 
are entirely silent with regard to any decision or other act of com- 
missaries appointed under the treaty of Utrecht, to settle the line 
of separation between the Hudson Bay territories and the French 
possessions, viz : the Collections of Treaties by Dumont, Boyer, 



LIFE OK GENERAL CASS. 289 

Martens, Jenkinson, Herstlet, and others; Actes, Memoires, &-c., 
concernant la Paix d'Utrecht, 171G, and Actes, Negociations, &.C., 
depuis la Paix d'Utrecht, 1745, two voluminous works, contain- 
ing, it may be supposed, every public document, and notice of 
every act connected with the negotiation of the treaty of Utrecht, 
and the consequent proceedings ; Collection des Edits, Ordonnan- 
ces, &/C., concernant le Canada, Quebec, 1803, apparently a com- 
plete assemblage of all the most important public documents rela- 
tive to Canada and the fur trade ; Monioires des Commissaires 
Frangcais.et Anglais, sur les Possessions des deux Couronnes en 
Amerique, 1754 to 1757, which could not have thus omitted to 
notice this settlement of boundaries, if it had taken place ; the 
Histoire de la Diplomatie Franoaise, by Flassan, ISll, and the 
Histoire des Traites de Paix, by Koch and Schoell, 1817. To 
these authorities may be added, as equally silent on the subject, 
the Histories of England by Tindall, Smollett, Belsham, Hughes, 
Mahon, Wade, the Parliamentary History, and the Pictorial His- 
tory ; the Histories of France, by Sismondi, Anquetil, and Lacre- 
telle ; Lord John Russell's Affairs of Europe since the Peace of 
Utrecht ; the Histories of, and Memoirs on, Louisiana, by Dumont, 
Dupraix, Vergennes, and Marbois ; the political works of Swift, 
Bolingbroke, and Voltaire; and many other works relating to the 
history of the period at which this settlement of the northern limit 
of Louisiana is said to have been made. 

"This is all negative evidence, indeed; but it is the only evi- 
dence of which the case admits, and is equivalent to a positive 
contradiction of the supposition that any settlement of boundaries 
between the Hudson Bay territory and the French possessions was 
made under the treaty of Utrecht ; as such a transaction could 
not have escaped notice in all, or indeed in any, of the works men- 
tioned in the preceding paragraph, if it had taken place, and esr 
pecially if it had been so notorious as the knowledge of it by those 
who asserted it would seem to indicate. It will be said that there 
must have been some foundation for the assertion ; and possibly 
such a line may have been proposed, and made the subject of dis- 
cussion between the two Governments in 1718, as a part of it was, 
a hundred years after, between one of them and the United States. 
That commissaries were appointed to settle boundaries, under the 
treaty of Utrecht, is most probable ; and, in proof not only of their 
meeting, but also of their separation without effecting any of the 
objects proposed, the following passage appears in the Histoire de 
la Nouvelle France, by Charlevoix : ' France took no part in this 
dispute, (between the British and Indians in Nova Scotia, in 1722,) 
in order to avoid giving the slightest pretext for interrupting the 
good understanding between the two nations, which had been re- 
stored with so much difficulty; even the negotiations between the 
two Courts for the settlement of boundaries ceased, although com- 
missaries had been appointed on both sides, for that object, since 
1719. Anderson, in his History of Commerce, and Macpherson, 

19 



290 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

in his Annals of Commerce, both positively deny that any bound- 
aries were settled under the treaty of Utrecht." 

In addition to the facts above stated, I will add another short 
paragraph, which was handed to me by my friend [Mr. Hanne- 
gan] since I came here to-day. I have not had time to advert to 
the original, but I presume it is correct. 

"In De Mofras's book, the official exposition by the French Go- 
vernment of the grounds of the English claims to the Oregon ter- 
ritory, and its own former pretensions to that region, it is said, 
vol. ii. p. 158 : 

"'It was agreed, at the peace of 1713, and by the treaty of 
Utrecht, that commissioners should meet to trace with precision, 
to the north and the west, the limits between the Hudson Bay 
country and New France, and to the south, the boundaries be- 
tween that province and the English possessions. Nevertheless, 
there does not exist in any written record, nor in any maps or 
charts, a single document showmg that these frontiers ever were 
definitely established. And, in IT2"2, all proceedings on this sub- 
ject had been abandoned, according to Father Charlevoix, that not 
the least pretext might be given to violate the good understanding, 
which it had been found so difficult to establish between the two 
crowns of France and England. The archives of the office of 
Foreign Affairs contain no chart or memoir relating to the treaty 
of Utrecht, regarding these frontiers, nor do those of the Depart- 
ment of Marine ; and thus the assertion of Charlevoix is fully sus- 
tained.' 

" The reference is to Charlevoix's New France, vol. iv. p. 124, 
and the top of the page."* 

Now, sir, I shall pursue this investigation no further. 1 have 
already observed that, whether this line was established or not east 
of the" Rocky Mountains, is not of the slightest importance. The 
position that I occupied in my speech, and that 1 occupy now, is 
this : It is contended in the Senate, and out of it, that the paral- 
lel of forty-nine is our northern boundary in the territory of Ore- 
gon, and that it was assumed as such by our Government in the 
early part of the controversy, and so maintained for some years ; 
and that we are, therefore, concluded against the assertion of any 
other boundary. Now, sir, my object was to show, that no such 
line was ever established by the treaty of Utrecht in the Oregon 
country, and that we were, therefore, free to urge our pretensions, 
without regard to this statement, or to the acts of our Government, 
founded upon an erroneous impression, that the line of forty-nine 

* The following is the remark of Father Charlevoix, referred to above ; 

" France took no part in tliis quarrel," (speaking of some disputes botweeu the English 
and the Indians,) " so as not to give the least pretext to break the good understanding, 
which it had cost so much to establish, between -the two Crowns. Tlie negotiations be- 
tween the two courts for the establishment of boundaries ceased ; although commissioners 
had been appointed on both sides ever since the year 1719." 

This was written in 1743. 'Ihe author was the well known traveller sent out by the 
French Government to explore and describe their possessions in Nortli America ; a task 
which he executed with equal judgment and accuracy. Great weight is due to his au- 
thority. 



LIFIE OF GENEUAL CASS. 291 

degrees did extend to the Pacific ocean. This is what I under- 
took to disprove, and nothing but this. And I will now ask the 
honorable Senator from Missouri if he believes that the parallel 
of forty-nine was ever established by commissaries under the trea- 
ty of Utrecht, as a boundary west of the Rocky Mountains? I 
will wait for the honorable gentleman's reply. 

[Here Mr. Cass paused for a short time; but Mr. Benton not 
answering, he continued.] 

Well, the honorable gentleman does not answer me. If he be- 
lieved the line run there, I am sure he would say so; for, if it did 
not run there, we are forever foreclosed from any claim under the 
Louisiana treaty, and the force of the honorable gentleman's attack 
upon me would be greatly strengthened. As he does not answer, I 
shall take it for granted that he believes no such line was ever estab- 
lished there. And if the fact is so, my object is answered, and we 
are relieved from the embarrassments arising out of the repeated 
assertions that the line of 49 degrees is our northern boundary in 
the territory of Oregon. T will now read to the lionorable Sena- 
tor what I said the other day on this subject, and he Avill perceive 
how much he has misapprehended me, and that all my allusion to 
the parallel of 49 degrees east of the Rocky mountains was a mere 
incidental topic, having no bearing upon my actual position. What 
I did say is this : "The treaty of tjtrecht never refers to the paral- 
lel of 49 degrees, and the boundaries it proposed to establish were 
those between the French and English colonies, including the 
Hudson Bay Company in Canada. The charter of the Hudson 
Bay Company granted to the proprietors all the "lands, countries, 
and territories," upon the waters discharging themselves into Hud- 
son's Bay. 

"At the date of the treaty of Utrecht, which was in 1713, Great 
Britain claimed nothing west of those "lands, countries, and ter- 
ritories," and of course there was nothing to divide between 
France and England west of that line. Again, in 1713, the north- 
western coast was almost a terra incognita, a blank upon the map 
of the world. England then neither knew a foot of it, nor claim- 
ed a foot of it. By adverting to the letter of Messrs. Gallatin and 
Rush, communicating an account of their interview with Messrs. 
Goulburn and Robinson, British commissioners, dated October 
20th, 1818, and to the letter of Mr. Pakenham to Mr. Buchanan, 
dated September 12th, 1844, it will be seen, that the commence- 
ment of the British claim is effectively limited to the discoveries 
of Captain Cook, in 1778. How then could a boundary have 
been established fifty years before, in a region where nb I'^nglish- 
man had ever penetrated, and to which England had never asserted 
a pretension ? And yet the assumption that the parallel of 49 de- 
grees was established by the treaty of Utrecht as a line between 
France and England, in those unknown regions, necessarily in- 
volves these inconsistent conclusions. But besides, if England, 
as a party to the treaty of Utrecht, established this line, running 



293 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

to the Western ocean, as the northern boundary of Louisiana, 
what possible claim has she now south of that line? The very 
fact of her existing pretensions, however unfounded these may be 
shows that she considers herself no party to such a line of division. 
It shows, in fact, that no line was run; for if it had been, the evi- 
dence of it would be in the English archives, and, in truth, would 
be known to the world without contradiction." This is what I 
said; and this was followed by the synopsis of my views upon the 
■ subject, which I read, and which I will read again : 

1. It is not shown that any line was established on the parallel 
<^f 49 degrees to the Pacific ocean. 

^, The country on the northwestern coast was then unknown, 
and I believe unclaimed ; or, at any rate, no circumstances had 
arisen to call in question any claim to it. 

3. The British negotiators in 1818, and their Minister here in 
1844, fixed upon the voyage of Captain Cook, in 1778, as the 
commencement of the British title in what is now called Oregon. 

4. The treaty of Utrecht provides for the establishment of a line 
between the French and British colonies, including the Hudson 
Bay Company. The British held nothing west of the company's 
possessions, which, by the charter, included only the "lands, coun- 
tries, and territories," on the waters running into Hudson's Bay. 

5. If England established this line to the Pacific ocean, she can 
have no claim south of it ; and this kind of argument, ad hominem, 
becomes conclusive. And let me add, that I owe this argument 
to my friend from Missouri, [Mr. Atchison,] to whose remarks 
Hpon Oregon the Senate listened with pleasure and with profit some 
days since. 

•0. How could France and England claim the country to the Pa- 
cific, so as to divide it between them in 1713, when, as late as 
1790, the British Government, by the Nootka convention, expressly 
recognized the Spanish title to that country, and claimed only the 
ase of it for its own subjects, in common with those of Spain. 

I am now, sir, brought to the annunciation, which I made, and 
which the honorable Senator has so strangely misunderstood. What 
I said, was this — I will repeat it in the very words I used upon the 
former occasion : " I now ask, sir, what right has any American 
statesman, or what right has any British statesman, to contend 
that our claim, whatever it may be, is not just as good north of this 
line as it is south of it ? When this question is answered to my 
satisfaction, I, for one, will consent to stop there. But until then, 
I am among those who mean to march, if we can, to the Russian 
boundary." 

This, sif , is my position. How different it is from the position 
assigned to me by the honorable Senator, I need not say. I trust 
I have redeemed myself, and that I can again enter into the con- 
test, a free man, battling for the full rights of his country, even to 
54 degrees 40 minutes. 

The discussion of this question was continued through sixty-five 



MF£ OF GENERAL CASS. 293 

days of the session. On the 16th of April, Mr. Allen moved that 
the resolution under debate, with the .imendments, be laid on the 
table, with the view of taking up for consideration the preamble 
and resolution relating to the same subject, which had passed the 
House of Representatives and been sent to the Senate for concur- 
rence. The motion was agreed to, and the Senate proceeded to 
consider the House resolution. It was amended in the Senate, by 
prefixing to it a preamble, and by changing it from a peremptory 
and explicit authority to the President to terminate the convention, 
to a discretionary one. The House of Representatives did not con- 
cur in the amendments, nor subsequently, upon the report of com- 
mittees of conferences of both Houses, was an agreement effected. 

In May, following, the subject of extending the jurisdiction over 
the territory west of the Rocky Mountains, being under considera- 
tion in the Senate, Mr. Benton again opened the question of the 
title of the United States to the Oregon territory. In the course 
of his speech, he attempted to controvert the statements of Gen. 
Cass, formerly made in regard to the boundary line running along 
the parallel of 54 degrees and 40 minutes. 

In reply Gen. Cbss addressed the Senate, examining and dis- 
cussing the objections raised by his powerful antagonist, sustain- 
ing, by his masterly argument and irrefragable proofs, the cor- 
rectness of his own statements and clearly pointing out the errors- 
of his opponent. 

Gen. Cass, foreseeing the approach of a crisis in the vexed questions- 
between the United States and England, which might involve the 
two countries in a war, and impressed with the necessity of being 
prepared to meet any contingency that might happen, introduced 
at an early period in the session, prior to the discussion of the 
Oregon question, resolutions, instructing the committee of the Sen- 
ate on military affairs to inquire into the condition of tlie national 
fortifications and of their armaments, and whetlier other defencive- 
works were necessary ; and into the condition and quantity of the 
military supplies ; and into the state of the means possessed by the 
government for the defence of the country ;^nd also instructing 
the committee on the militia to inquire into the present condition 
of that great branch of the public service, and into tlie state of the 
militia laws ; and that they be further instructed to report such 



294 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

changes in the existing system as will give more experience and 
efficiency to thai arm of defence, and will place it in the best con- 
dition for protecting the country should it be exposed to foreign 
invasion; and that the committee on naval affairs inquire into the 
condition of the navy of the United States, and into the quantity 
and condition of the naval supplies on hand, and whether an in- 
crease of them was not necessary to the efficient operations of the 
navy, and to its preservation and augmentation ; and, generally, 
into its capacity for defending our coast and our commerce, and 
for any service the exigencies of the country might probably require. 
Gen. Cass advocated the adoption of these resolutions at length. 
He said : 

It was impossible to peruse the President's message, and to ob- 
serve the indications of public sentiment which are crovvdingupon 
us from every quarter, without being aware that a crisis is fast ap- 
proaching in the intercourse between this country and Great Bri- 
tain, which demands the serious consideration, and may require 
the cordial and active co-operation, of the whole American people. 
The President has told us that the negotiations respecting Oregon, 
if they have not reached a close, have, at any rate, reached a po- 
sition almost equivalent to it. The claims of the respective nations 
are utterly irreconcileable ; and a compromise, by a voluntary sac- 
rifice of a portion of their pretensions by one party, or by both, or 
a submission of the whole matter in controversy to some foreign 
power, seem the only alternative by which peace can be preserved. 

Our government has already declined to submit our rights to 
foreign arbitration. That is a process which, under equal circum- 
stances, may well be adopted by independent nations to terminate 
disputes, which would otherwise seek the arbitrament of war. It 
preserves the honor of both parties, and ought to preserve the just 
interests of both. It substitutes reason for force, and is therefore 
suited to the advancing opinions of the age, and to the duties and 
ifeelings of Christian communities. But these equal circumstances 
do not exist in our present dispute with England. There are ob- 
vious considerations, into which I need not enter here, growing 
out of the relative situation of that country and of ours, with those 
powers of Europe from whom an arbitrator would almost necessa- 
rily be selected, and out of the influence she possesses over their 
counsels, and, I may add, growing out of the nature of our insti- 
tutions, and the little favor these enjoy at present upon the East- 
ern continent, which may well have made the government hesitate 
to submit important*interests, at this particular juncture, to such 
a tribunal. It may well have thought it better to hold on to our 
right, and to hold on also to our remedy, rather than commit both 
to a royal arbitrator. War is a great calamity, and ought to be 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 295 

avoided by all proper means ; but there are calamities greater than 
war, and amoncj these is national dishonor. 

I did not rise, sir, as will be seen, to discuss in whole or in part 
the question of our right to Oregon. That subject will come up 
in its own proper time. There may be some difference of opinion 
as well in Congress as in the nation, respecting the territorial ex- 
tent of that right ; though I take this opportunity of expressing my 
entire and hearty concurrence in the claim as advanced by the 
President. But I am sure there is no great party, and I trust there 
are few individuals in this country, who are prepared, even in an 
extreme spirit of compromise, to accept the most liberal offer that 
England has yet made. Her pretensions and ours are so widely 
separated, that there seems no middle ground on which to meet. 
Our most moderate claim, and her most liberal offer, leave the 
parties assunder by seven degrees of latitude, and by a large por- 
tion of the territory in question. What, then, is our condition? 
Can we recede ? Can we stand still ; or must we advance? 

As to receding, it is neither to be discussed nor thought of I 
refer to it but to denounce it— a denunciation which will find a 
response in every American bosom. Nothing is ever gained by 
national pusillanimity. And the country which seeks to purchase 
temporary security by yielding to unjust pretensions, buys present 
ease at the expense of permanent honor and safety. It sows the 
wind to reap the whirlwind. I have said elsewhere, what 1 will 
repeat here, that it is better to fight for the first inch of national 
territory than lor the last. It is better to defend the door sill than 
the hearth stone — the porch than the altar. National character is 
a richer treasure than gold or silver, and exercises a moral influ- 
ence, in the hour of danger, which, if not power itself, is its surest 
ally. Thus far, ours is untarnished ; and let us all join, however 
separated by party or by space, so to preserve it. 

If we cannot recede, can we stand still ? No, Mr. President ; 
in this, as in all the other elements of national power and great- 
ness, our duty and our destiny are onwards. Vve might as well 
attempt to stay the waves of the Pacific, as to stay the tide of em- 
igration which is setting towards its shoies. If this government 
had the disposition, it has not the power to arrest this human cur- 
rent. Cut it has neither — neither the power nor the disposition 
to do it. There are questions of public right, which may rest in 
abeyance ; which are not called into daily exercise ; and need be 
asserted only when required. But such is not the right by which 
we hold Oregon. We must maintain it, or abandon it. A vigor- 
ous and enterprising people are fast increasing there, who will hold 
■t he country by the best of all titles — that of occupation and improve- 
ment ; and if we do not provide them a government, they will pro- 
vide one for themselves. Already necessity has compelled them 
to organize their civil society, and to make those arrangements 
for the preservation of order, without which no civilized communi- 
ty can exist. It is only a few days since they made known to you, 



296 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

by a judicious and well-written memoiial, their condition and their 
wants ; and asked your interposition to remove the serious difficul- 
ties with which they find themselves environed. And think you, 
that if their prayer is unheard, and their grievances unredressed, 
and if the present state of things continue, that you will find a dis- 
tant colony patiently awaiting your tardy movements, and ready to 
admit your jurisdiction when you may be ready to exercise it ? 
No; they will feel themselves neglected, cast off, left to their own 
resources, the victims of diplomatic chicanery or of national pus- 
silanimity, and they will seek their own security in their own pow- 
er. That great truth, not applicable alone to republican govern- 
ments, but common to all, and which lay at the foundation of our 
Revolution — that protection and allegiance are reciprocal — will 
soon be heard upon the banks of the Columbia, and will inspire 
the councils of the hardy pioneers, who, while they have sought a 
new home in a distant country, have carried with them the senti- 
ments of true liberty to the regions beyond the Rocky mountains. 

It is clearly impossible that the present state of things should 
continue ; nor, I must confess, do 1 see how it is possible that a 
community, inhabiting the same region, and possessing the same 
right to every part of it, can hold a divided allegiance, and be gov- 
erned at the same time by two distinct and distant sovereignties. 
When the present anomalous provision was made, the country was 
unsettled ; for the few hunters who roamed over it could hardly be 
dignified with the name of settlers: and it probably never occur- 
red to the negotiators, nor to their governments, that this arrange- 
ment would outlive the then existing state of things, and would 
come to operate upon a civilized, a stationary, and a rapidly increa- 
sing community. 

Bnt what kind of order can a double-headed government pre- 
serve ? How are its departments — legislative, executive, and ju- 
dicial — to be administered? How are rights to be enforced, or 
wrongs to be prevented or punished ? Two neighbors, living with- 
in hearing of each other, are responsible to different tribunals, and 
governed by different codes of laws. An American killing an 
Englishman must be tried by an American court and by American 
laws. But how are English witnesses to be summoned, or Eng- 
lish disturbers of the proceedings of the court to be removed or 
punished ? Possessory'rights are to be judged by the courts of the 
party last getting possession. Contracts are to be enforced by the 
courts of the party charged with violating them. And wrongs are 
to be redressed, or satisfied, or punished by the courts of the party 
accused of committing them. A single American in the midst of 
an English settlement, or a single Encjlishman in the midst of an 
American settlement, bears with him a charmed life. He may do 
what he will, and as he will, but he is beyond the reach of restraint, 
and almost of punishment. He is invulnerable, and the arrows of 
justice cannot pierce even his heel. The nearest magistrate who 
has jurisdiction over him may be hundreds of miles removed ; and 



LIFE OE GENERAL CASS. 297 

were he nearer, his national sympathies might naturally be excited 
in favor of his countryman. There can be no regular grants of 
land — none, in fact, of those public improvements essential to the 
progress and stability of society. I present merely the most gen- 
eral views of this subject, but they are sufficient to show how im- 
practicable it would be to attempt to establish this double juris- 
diction. It would be easy to pursue the investigation much fur- 
ther were it necessary. 

Who does not see that bitter disputes would soon arise? That 
each party would accuse the other of partiality and injustice? 
That violence and bloodshed would follow, and that an intestine 
war would establish the ascendency of one or other of the rival and 
national parties? All this is so plain that he who runs may read. 
And we are warned by the surest instincts of our nature not to 
trust our rights and our cause and the cause of humanity to such 
a partition of authority. 

If, then, Mr. President, we can neither retrace our steps nor 
check them, we must go onward. And England has placed her- 
self in the path that is before us ; and if she retain her position, 
we must meet her. If the last proposition she has submitted is 
her ultimatum, it is effectively a declaration of war. Its advent 
may be delayed a few months ; but as soon as the notice ex- 
pires, if she persists, as she will do, in her occupation of the coun- 
try, the struggle must commence. It is not the notice which is a 
belligerent measure, for that is a treaty right ; but it is the subse- 
quent and immediate course the parties will probably pursue that 
must lead to war. I hope — or I ought rather to say I wish — that 
England would awake to a sense of her injustice, and would yield 
where she could yield honorably, and ought to yield rightfully. 
But will she do so? It is safest to believe she will not, and this 
dictate of prudence is fortified by every page of her history. When 
did she voluntarily surrender a territory she had once acquired, or 
abandon a pretension she had once advanced ? If a few such ca- 
ses could be found in the record of her progress and acquisitions, 
they would be but exceptions, which would render the general 
principle of her conduct only the more obvious. For my own part, 
I see no symptoms of relaxation in the claims she has put forth. 
And the declarations in Parliament of the leaders of the two great 
parties that divide her Government and her people — Sir Robert 
Peel and Lord John Russell — show a union of opinion, and fore- 
show a union of action, should action be necessary, rarely to be 
found in the political questions that agitate her councils, and are 
the index, if not the assurance, of an equal unanimity in public 
sentiment. 

Sir, we find the leader of the great Whig party, in his place in 
Parliament, in effect denouncing the course of the United States 
in the annexation of Texas, because it tends towards territorial ag- 
grandizement ; and the eternal cant about British moderation and 
philanthropy, and American injustice and ambition, is heard, and 



298 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

read, and believed in every corner of the British dominions. I 
must confess, sir, I am heartily tired of it. Were the subject and 
its consequences not so important, these declarations would excite 
ridiclue, as they now excite regret and surprise. They are not 
confined to ordinary political discussions and to the journals of the 
day, but they come from the highest men, in the highest places. 
And here is an eminent English statesmen asking the Administra- 
tion what course they intend to pursue in the altered policy of the 
United States, as he terms it — as though the voluntary union of 
two independent people upon this continent were an injury to Eng- 
land, which demanded her immediate attention, and might demand 
her armed interposition. And he tells us, he understands that 
communications have been sent to the United States, to Mexico, 
and lo Texas, on the subject of what he calls the new policy of the 
United States. And we know that those communications to Mex- 
ico and to Texas contained large offers to prevent annexation. 
But, thanks to the onward course of our Government, and to the 
feelings and determination of the Texian people, this interposition 
was fruitless ; as was the communication to Mexico, if this were 
designed to embroil us with that country. The well-timed rebuke, 
administered by the President in his Message, to the French Gov- 
ernment for its interposition in our atfairs with Texas, might, with 
equal justice, have been administered to England ; and I presume 
would have been so, had not the President looked upon the course 
of the one Power as natural, judging from past events, while the 
course of the other was unnatural, impolite, and unexpected. 

But this Whig lecture of Lord John Russell upon the ambition 
of the United States, and these j)erpetual eulogiums upon the mo- 
deration of England, are in strange contrast with the practical prin- 
ciples and the, progress of her empire. The moderation of Eng- 
land, and the ambition of the United States ! Why, sir, the world 
has never seen, since the fall of the Roman empire, such a colos- 
sal power as England has built up. She has girded the earth with 
her fortifications, and covered the ocean with her fleets. A com- 
paratively narrow island, off the western coast of Europe, she num- 
bers as her subjects 153,000,000 of people — being more than one- 
sixth part of the human race ; and has reduced to her subjection 
3,800,000 square miles inhabited by them, being one-eighth part 
of the habitable globe. And in the long series of her acquisitions, 
from the reduction of Ireland downwards, with the exception of 
her union with Scotland and some recent discoveries in the South 
Sea, I believe all have been gained by the sword. And when has 
it happened in her history, that a people, or the smallest fragment 
of a people, has voluntarily sought peace or protection under her 
sovereignty? Her armies and fleets have too often been sent out 
wherever there was a people to be subdued, or the fruits of their 
industry to be secured. I have no pleasure in dwelling upon this 
course of ambition. I have no pleasure in national crimination 
and recrimination. I had far rather dwell upon all she has done ; 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 299 

and she has done much — to command the gratitude of mankind, 
and much for the progress of civilization, of improvement, and of 
knowledge. But we cannot shut our eyes to the fact that this 
country and its institutions enjoy little favor in England. That 
there is a systematic attack upon our character, and upon what 
we are, and have been, and upon our future, so far as it is given 
to foresee and to fear it. I confess all this has produced a last- 
ing impression upon me; and I feel little disposed, in any contro- 
versy with that country, to submit to unjust demands, urged in a 
spirit of unfriendliness, if not of menace. 

And if England is moderate, we are ambitious ! Why, sir, we 
have made but three acquisitions of territory since we have been 
a nation. And these were not distant colonies, but coterminious 
regions. And all three have been made peacefully, bloodlessly. 
Two were colonies belonging to European monarchies, where the 
assent of the people to the transfer of their allegiance could not be 
asked. But they have since shown their satisfaction by their pa- 
triotism, and their prosperity has been the reward of it. Nowhere 
is the Union more prized, nor would it anywhere be more zealously 
defended. The third and last, and most glorious of these acqui- 
sitions, is now in the progress of completion, by the voluntary ac- 
tion of a neighboring people, who knew the value of our institu- 
tions, and sought to participate in them, and who asked admission 
to our confederacy. And we shall receive them with open arms. 
And it is an encouraging spectacle to the lovers of freedom through 
the world, and the best tribute that could be offered to its value. 

I said, Mr. President, that this was the latest, but I hope it will 
liot be the last of our acquisitions. While I would sacredly res- 
pect the just rights of other nations, I would cheerfully extend the 
jurisdiction of our own, whenever circumstances may require it, 
and wherever it can be done without injustice. I have no fear 
that an extension of territory will weaken our Government, or put 
in peril our institutions. We have an adhesive and a life-preser- 
ving principle, in the exercise of political power by the great body 
of the people, which is a surer bond of union and preservation 
than fleets and armies and central powers. If this Administration 
could crown its labor of acquisition — and in what it has labored 
with not less ability than success — by the peaceful annexation of 
California, it would secure imperishable honor for itself, and would 
command the lasting gratitude of the whole country. 

Under these imposing circumstances, we may well ask of the 
watchman, what of the night ? We may well inquire, what we 
ought to do. I take it for granted we shall give the notice recom- 
mended by the President ; for if we do not, we shall leave the peo- 
ple of Oregon without a government, or with an impracticable one ; 
and, in either event, the country is lost to us ; and the notice being 
given, in twelve months, without an abandonment of a large por- 
tion of her claim, we shall find ourselves involved in a war with 
Enfrland. And it will be no common war, Mr. President ; it will 



300 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

be a war not merely of interest, but of strong and stormy passions, 
growing out of the relative situation of the two nations, and out 
of the very points of resemblance, which will but render the sepa- 
ration of the parties the wider, and the struggle the longer and the 
bitterer. It will do no good to shut our eyes to the prospect be- 
fore us. Danger can neither be averted nor avoided by indiffer- 
ence, nor by presumption. Let us look our difficulties and our 
duties fully in the face. Let us make preparation adequate to the 
conjuncture. Let us exhibit to England and to Europe the spec- 
tacle of an undivided people, anxious for peace, but ready for war. 
In the language of Mr. Madison, "let us put the United States in- 
to an armor, and an attitude demanded by the crisis, and corres- 
ponding with the national spirit and expectation." 

One war has already found us unprepared. And what that con- 
dition of things cost in blood, and treasure, and disaster, those of 
us who went through the struggle can well remember ; and those 
who have come upon the stage of action since that period, may 
learn from the history of the times. And, perhaps to a certain 
extent, this must be so, and always will be so. We are all opposed 
to great military establishments in time of peace. They are as 
dangerous as they are expensive. And they will therefore never 
be engrafted into the permanent institutions of the country. But 
when war threatens, we should commence our preparations, and 
press them with an energy and a promptitude commensurate with 
the danger. 

The President has discharged his duty ably, patriotically, fear- 
lessly. Let us now discharge ours — not by words merely, but by 
deeds. The best support we can give him is to respond to his de- 
clarations by our actions. It is my firm conviction, and I do not 
hesitate thus publicly to avow it, that the best, if not the only hope 
that we have of avoiding a war with England, is by exhibiting a 
public and united determination to prosecute it, should it come, 
with all the energies that God has given us, and by an instant and 
serious consideration of the preparations necessary for such offen- 
sive and defensive measures as may be required, and as prompt an 
adoption of them as a just regard to circumstances may demand. 
Our country is extensive. In many portions of it the population 
is sparse. The frontier, both Atlantic and inland, is long and 
exposed. 

Our defensive works are unfinished, and some of them are un- 
furnished. I do not know, but I fear that many important branches 
of supply are inadequate. Our navy, and especially the steam por- 
tion of it, is not upon a scale commensurate with our wants, if war 
is almost upon us. That navy fought itself into favor, and its 
country into honor, in the seemingly unequal and almost desperate 
struggle into which it so gallantly went in the last war. And ano- 
ther contest would find it equally true to its duty, and to the pub- 
lic expectations. I trust the time will never again come, when it 
will be a question in a great crisis, whether the navy shall be dis- 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 301 

mantled and rot in our docks, or whether it shall be sent out to 
gather another harvest of glory upon the ocean. It is the materiel 
for military and naval operations it is first necessary to procure. 
Men we have ready ; and such is the patriotism inherent in the 
American character, that they never will be found wanting in the 
hour of difficulty and of danger. Our militia requires a new and 
an efficient organization. It is a reproach to us that we have suf- 
fered this important branch of national defence to become so in- 
efficient. It has almost disappeared from the public view. Both 
the laws upon this subject and the administratian of them, require 
immediate and severe examination ; for this is one of the great 
bulwarks of the country in the hour of danger. It has shown its 
patriotism and valor upon many a bloody field, and the future, if it 
should need its services, will witness its devotion to the country, 
whenever and wherever and however it may be tried. Many of 
the supplies required for the operations of war, demand time and 
care for their collection and preparation ; and we must remember 
that we have to do with a people whose arsenals and dock yards 
are filled to repletion ; whose supplies are upon a scale equal to 
any probable demand upon them ; whose gigantic military and na- 
val establishments announce their power and maintain it ; and the 
structure of whose Government is better fitted than ours for 
prompt and vigorous and offensive action. 

It is in the spirit of these views that I have submitted the reso- 
lutions before the Senate, and in which I ask their concurrence. 

A great responsibility is upon us. We shall best discharge it by 
firmness, and by a wise forecast, which, while it steadily surveys 
the danger, makes adequate provision to meet it. By thus acting, 
we shall give a practical approbation of the course of the Presi- 
dent ; we shall show to our constituents that their interests are 
safe in our hands ; we shall speak neither in a deprecating tone, 
nor in a tone of defiance, but of firmness, to England ; and we 
shall give to the nations of Europe a proof that Republics are as 
jealous of their rights and honor, and as determined to maintain 
them, as monarchical governments. 

The resolutions were unanimously adopted. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

The Slavery question — Position of Gen. Cas.s — The Wilmot Proviso and Mexican 
War — Remarks of Gen. Casa in the Senate, J^'ebruary 10th, 1847, on the appro- 
priation of three millions to bring the war with Mexico to a close — His remarks 
on voting against the adoption of the Wilmot Proviso — Gen. Cass' letter to 
A. O. P. JNicholson, of Tennessee — His desire for a vigorous prosecution of the 
war — Tribute of praise to the Army in Mexico — Origin of the war. 

The position of Gen. Cass in regard to the Slavery question, 
has been objected to by some of his democratic friends and by his 
political opponents, as inconsistent with his relations to the north- 
ern portion of the Union. His decided opposition to what is so 
well known as the " Wilmot Proviso,"' so far as its application was 
attempted in Congress in the creation of territorial governments, 
and in relation to the particular time when the attempt was made, 
has rendered him the most conspicuous among statesmen, against 
whom the friends and supporters of the proviso have arrayed them- 
selves. The principle of this celebrated proviso, which has caused 
so great excitement and agitation throughout the United States for 
the past five years, was first introduced in the House of Repre- 
sentatives by a member from Massachusetts, (Hon. Mr. Winthrop) 
and applied to the Oregon bill. Subsequently, when war existed 
between the United States and Mexico, the President, desirous of 
terminating speedily and honorably, hostilities between the two na- 
tions, recommended Congress to authorize the expenditure of a 
sum of money necessary to accomplish that object. The chief 
obstacle in the way of an arrangement, was the settlement of a 
boundary line between the two Republics; an adjustment of which 
might probably require some concession on the part of Mexico, 
for which an equivalent in money would be acceptable. For the 
purpose indicated by the President, a bill was introduced in the 
House of Representatives in August, 1846, placing at the dispo- 
sal of the Executive two millions of dollars. During the discus- 
sion of this bill, which was just at the close of the session, Mr. 



■ LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 303 

Wilmot, Representative from Pennsylvania, offered the following 
as an amendment to the bill : 

''Provided, That, as an express and fundamental condition to 
the acquisition of any territory from the Republic of Mexico by 
the United States, by virtue of any treaty which may be negotia- 
ted between them, and to the use by the Executive oi the moneys 
herein appropriated, neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall 
ever exist in any part of said territory, except for crime, whereof 
the party shall first be duly convicted." 

The bill passed the House with this amendment on the 8th of 
August, 1846, the vote being eighty-seven in the affirmative and 
fifty-four in the negative. The bill was then sent to the Senate, 
and on Monday, August 10th, was, on motion of Senator Lewis, 
of Alabama, taken up for consideration. Mr. Lewis moved to 
strike from the bill the proviso which had been adopted in the 
House. This motion provoked a debate which did not terminate 
in time to allow a vote to be taken on the bill, (Hon. Senator Da- 
vis, of Massachusetts, occupying the remainder of the session in 
opposition to the bill and motion of Mr. Lewis,) before the time 
of the final adjournment of Congress arrived. As no vote was ta- 
ken, it is not known what would have been the fate of the bill in 
the Senate, although in secret session before the introduction of 
the bill in the House, thirty-three Senators approved of the appro- 
priation ; but the proviso was not then incorporated in it. 

At the subsequent session of Congress, the President renewed 
the recommendation of his special message of the previous ses- 
sion. Action thereon was had in Congress, and when the bill ma- 
king a special appropriation of three millions to bring the war 
with Mexico to a speedy and honorable conclusion, came up for 
consideration in the Senate. Gen, Cass supported the appropria- 
tion, and in the course of his speech reviewed the relations be- 
tween the two countries, the peculiar character of the war, and 
the propriety of legislating in regard to it, as the President recom- 
mended. 

The following extracts are taken from a speech of Gen. Cass, 

delivered February 10th, 1847 : 

" We are at war with Mexico, brought on by her injustice. Be- 
fore peace is established, we have a right to require a reasonable 
indemnity, either pecuniary or territorial, or both, for the injuries 
we have sustained. Such a compensation is just in itself, and in 



304 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

Strict accordance with tlie usages of nations. One memorable 
proof of this has passed in our own times. When the allies en- 
tered Paris, after the overthrow of Napoleon, they compelled the 
French Government to pay them an indemnity of fifteen hundred 
millions of francs, equal to three hundred millions of dollars. In 
the condition of Mexico, there is no disposition in this country to 
ask of her an unreasonable sacrifice. On the contrary, the wish 
is everywhere prevalent, and I am sure the Government partici- 
pate in it, that we should demand less than we are entitled to. No 
one proposes a rigid standard, by which the indemnity shall be 
measured. But there are certain territorial acquisitions, which 
are important to us, and whose cession cannot injure Mexico, as 
she never can hold them permanently. We are willing, after set- 
tling the indemnity satisfactorily, to pay for the excess in money. 
The Senator from South Carolina has stated the proposition very 
distinctly, ' any excess on our part we are willing to meet, as we 
ought, by the necessary payment to Mexico.' " 

"It is now objected to, as an immoral proposition, a kind of 
bribery, either of the Government of Mexico, or of its Command- 
ing General : and the honorable Senator from Maryland, who is 
not nov/ in his seat, said emphatically and solemnly, ' that this pro- 
ject of terminating the war by dismembering a sister republic, is 
so revolting to my moral sense of propriety, honor and justice, 
that I should see my arms palsied by my side, rather than agree 
to it.' The ' dismemberment' of which the honorable member 
speaks, is previously defined by hiniself. That is the term he 
gives the acquisition, but I call it purchase. He says the money 
will go to Santa Anna and pay the army, which will thus be secu- 
red, and the poor 'downtrodden' people be transferred to this 
country ' in spite of themselves,' in consequence of this ' pouring 
of gifts into the hands of their tyrants.' 

" Now, sir, there is no such proposition, as I understand it, nor 
anything like it. The object of the President has been distinctly 
stated by himself. It is to have the money ready, and if a satis- 
factory treaty is signed and ratified, then to make a payment into 
the treasury of Mexico, which will be disposed of by the Govern- 
ment of that country, agreeably to its own laws. The proposi- 
tions, both at the last session of Congress and at this, were iden- 
tical. The difference in the phraseology of the appropriation has 
been satisfactorily explained by the chairman of the Committee on 
Foreign Relations, and seems to me of very little consequence. 
Be that as it may, it is not a subject which can produce of itself 
any practical difficulty. For if there is any member of the Sen- 
ate, who is willing to vote for the appropriation in the form in 
which it was presented last year, and is unwilling to vote for it in 
this, the Committee on Foreign Relations will cheerfully assent to 
the substitution of the latter for the former." 

"As to the idea, that such an arrangement is something like 
bribery, it seems to me it will not bear the slightest investigation. 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 305 

A Strange kind of bribery this ! Tiie appropriation called for was 
preceded by a message from the President to the Senate in secret 
session. It was then received in both Houses, and the doors 
thrown open. It was discussed fully, not to say warmly, and was 
finally lost by the lapse of time. In secret session thirty-three 
Senators voted for it. It again takes a prominent place in the 
President's message at the commencement of the j)resent session 
of Congress. It has been before us between two and three months, 
and has been borne upon the wings of the wind to the remotest 
portions of our country. It entered Mexico long ago, and has 
been proclaimed upon every house-top in town and country. It is 
known to every citizen of that Republic, who knows anything of 
political affairs, whether the blood in his veins is Castilian, or 
Moorish, or Aztec. It has passed to Europe, and received the 
condemnations of many of its journals. Ilad it been approved . 
there, I should doubt its policy or its justice. And for aught I 
know, it is travelling along the canals of the Celestial Empire. I 
repeat, a strange kind of bribery this ! That is an offence which 
does its work in secret. This is a proposition made by one nation 
to another, in the face of the world. It is not to enable Mexico 
to carry on the war, as an honorable Senator seems to suppose, for 
it is not to be paid till the war is over." 

" The whole proposition results from the peculiar condition of 
Mexico. Her Government is ephemeral. Its members are born 
in the morning and die in the evening. Administrations succeed 
one another, like the scenes of a theatre, rather than the events of 
life, and still less of events in the life of a nation. The rulers do 
not dare to do justice in such a case as this. It might cost them 
their places, to which they hold on as tenaciously as thougli their 
tenure were a secure one. There is a strong excitement in that 
country against us. Nothing shows this more distinctly, than the 
scene, which lately passed there, when their President swore that 
the nation would never yield one inch of its territory, nor make 
peace with the invader, till his foot was off its soil. A dangerous 
resolution to be thus publicly proclaimed, and one more easily pro- 
claimed than kept. The sublime and the ridiculous may so easily 
touch, that nations should be chary of such exhibitions, which 
may belong to the domain of one or of the other, as subsequent 
circumstances stamp their character. Whatever judgment, how- 
ever, history may pronounce upon this ceremony in Mexico, it is 
significant enough of the disposition of the people towards us. 
Hence the difficulty of the Government is increased, and hence 
the necessity of their strengthening themselves. Their revenues 
are drying up. They are always in debt in all their departments, 
civil and military. By a prompt payment into their treasury upon 
the ratification of a treaty, the Government will be enabled to sat- 
isfy the most pressing demands, and thus to do an act of justice at 
home which will counteract any ill effects of an act of justice 
abroad. And this is the very point of the whole matter. We may 

20 



90S ^^^^ ^^ GENERAL CASS, 

thus tempt them to do right, while so many other strong circum- 
stances tempt them to do wrong. As to the application of this 
money, after it reaches the treasury of Mexico, it is no question 
of ours, any more than was the application of the consideration 
money paid to France and Spain for the purchase of Louisiana 
and of Florida. We cannot follow it, and it must take its fate 
with the other resources of the country. It has one advantage, 
however, and that is its publicity. If the silver or gold were car- 
ried by wagons to the palace of the Government, the transaction 
could have no more publicity than it has now. And this throws 
upon the authorities a much graver responsibility, than do the or- 
dinary payments, and one less likely to be abused. If all this is 
bribery, I am fully prepared to take my share in the guilt of it. 
If it is bribery, let the honest governments of Europe make the 
most of it." 

" Passing now, sir, from the consideration of this subject to the 
course before us, I would observe, that there are but three plans 
of operation, by which we can escape from the difficulties of our 
position. 

" The first is, an abandonment of the war, and an inglorious 
return to our own country. 

" The second is, the establishment of a line over such a portion 
of the enemy's territory, as we think proper, and holding the coun- 
try on this side of it without any further military operations. 

" The third is, a vigorous prosecution of the war, agreeably to 
the public expectation, and the experience of the world. 

*' As to the first, sir, I do not place it in the category of things 
possible, but only in the category of things proposed, and I cast it 
from me with contempt. 

" The second, sir, is a very different proposition ; supported by 
high names, civil and military, and was yesterday presented to us 
with great power of argument and beauty of illustration by the 
distinguished Senator from South Carolina. I shall state as suc- 
cinctly as I can the reasons which induce me to consider this as 
an inexpedient, not to say an impossible, proposition. 

" A plan of operations, seeking to hold a portion of a country, 
properly guarded by fortresses, and furnished with the necessary 
lines of communication, and seeking to do this, without publicly 
announcing the nature of the plan, end the determination to ad- 
here to it, is one thing. An attempt to occupy another portion of 
country, open, unfortified, with no natural boundaries, and pene- 
trable in all directions, and publicly proclaiming this system as an 
invariable one, not to be departed from, is another, and quite a 
different thing. From the Gulf of Mexico, following the bound- 
aries of the provinces now in our possession, to the Pacific ocean, 
is but little short of two thousand miles. Far the greater portion 
of it is open, and much of it unoccupied. Instead of any lines of 
communication, natural or artificial, where it must necessarily be 
crossed, it may be crossed anywhere. It is a mere paper line — a 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 307 

descriptive one. For hundreds of miles on each side of a great 
part of the line, the country is the same; roamed over rather than 
possessed by nomadic tribes, and affording subsistence and shelter 
to the beasts of the earth. If you assume such a boundary, you 
necessarily place yourself upon the defensive. You must estab- 
lish troops along it, and these must be scattered, occupying differ-- 
ent positions. Your enemy thus acts in masses, while you act in 
detachments. If he attack you, and succeed, you are destroyed. 
If he attack you, and is discomfited, he falls back, behind his im- 
penetrable barrier. A snake, clutched by an eagle, is one of the 
emblems of the armorial bearings of Mexico. If this plan of 
fighting to an air line is adopted, the proud bird will soon be pow- 
erless, and the reptile will coil itself up to strike at its leisure and 
its pleasure. In such a state of offensive-defensive warfare, the 
enemy chooses his time, when you least expect him, or are least 
able to resist him. He gains your rear, and cuts off your convoys 
and supplies, and thus reduces you to weakness and distress. Or 
he strikes you in a period of sickness, in a climate to which you 
are. unaccustomed, and whose alternations do not affect him. You 
cannot pursue him into his country, for the moment you do that, 
you confess the folly of your plan, and abandon it for ever. If 
you cross your boundary, you must cross it to hold on, and then 
you have a new boundary, or, in other words, a system of unlimit- 
ed operations. If you do not cross to hold on, what will you do? 
Your very object in crossing is to chastise the enemy ; and you 
must pursue him to his fortresses and capture them, if he has anyj 
or you must fight him in the open field and disperse him. I re- 
peat, if you do not do this, you may as well stop at your boundary; 
look civilly at the retiring enemy, take off your hats, and say : 
Good bye, gentlemen ; we will wait till you come back again. The 
riches of Croesus would melt away, before such a system of fight- 
ing-no-fighting. The laurels of Napoleon would wither and die. 
No exchequer could bear the expense. No public sentiment the 
dishonor. There is but one such campaign, sir, recorded in all 
history, ancient or modern, sacred or profane, true or fabulous, 
and that is ihe campaign of Sisyphu?. It was an eternal one. 
Sanction the plan proposed, and yours will be eternal too. This 
stone will never be rolled to the top of the mountain. It would 
be a never-ending, ever-renewing war. The distinguished Sena- 
tor from South Carolina thinks, that four regiments and three for- 
tresses along this line, and one regiment and a few small vessels 
for California, ' would be ample for its defence.' The line, as de- 
scribed by himself, is this : ' Beginning at the mouth of the Rio 
del Norte, and continuing up the Paso del Norte, or southern boun- 
dary of New Mexico, which nearly coincide, and then due west 
to the Gulf' of California, striking it, according to the maps before 
us, nearly at its head.' 

Here, sir, is aline across the continent from the Gulf of Mexico 
to the Gulf o^ California; and this line is to be so protected by 



;308 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

five regiments, three fortresses, and a few small vessels, as to be 
impervious to the rancheros and other light troops of Mexico — the 
best and most indefatigable horsemen, perhaps, in the world. I 
have enumerated, in these means of defense, a few small vessels, 
because they form part of the project of the honorable Senator. 
How they are to be employed in defending any part of the line, as 
I do not understand, I will not attempt to explain.* If the soldiers 
were stationed equidistant upon this boundary, they would proba- 
bly be a mile apart. It seems to me, sir — and 1 say it with all re- 
spect that we might as well attempt to blockade the coast of Eu- 
rope by stationing a ship in the middle of the Atlantic. As to the 
Rio Grande, it is no defensive line at all. Rivers, when best 
guarded, are found to afford very insufficient protection. But in 
the great coimtry south and west of us, yet in a state of nature, 
or slowly emerging from it, streams are entitled to very little con- 
sideration in defensive operations. Who is there, that has passed 
his life in the West, and has not crossed them a hundred times by 
swimming, in canoes, upon logs, upon rafts, and upon horses 1 Is 
it to be supposed, that an active Mexican, accustomed to the woods 
from his infancy, would hesitate to dash into a stream, ai^d cross 
it, almost as readily as if it were unbroken ground? 

But long defensive lines, even when skilfully constructed and 
carefully guarded, are but feeble harriers against courage and en- 
terprise. °How long did the Roman wall keep the North Britons 
out of Eno-land ? How long did the Grecian wall of the Lower 
Empire keep the Turks out of Constantinople, and the horse-tails 
of their Pashas from the cathedral of Saint Sophia ? And the 
Chinese wall — an immense labor of man — that, too opened to the 
Tartars, and enabled the chief of roving bands to ascend the old- 
est throne in the world. The best wall a country can have, is the 
breasts of its citizens, free, prosperous, and united. 

But sir, there is another consideration, not to be overlooked. 
How could you keep your own citizens on this side of your imagi- 
nary line ? The honorable Senator tells us, their spirit of adven- 
ture can hardly be restrained in time of peace, and that there is 
always danger, they will push into the Mexican provinces. But in 
time of war — even of a new kind of war like this — they would 
feel that the enemy's country was open to them, and their incur- 
sions would keep up a continued state of hostilities. 

The Senator says, that offensive wars look to the subjugation of 
a country. I do not thus read the history of the world, nor the 
history of nations. I consider offensive wars, as necessary means 
for the attainment of certain just objects. Our war with England, 
in 1812, was an offensive one ; but no American, even in his wild- 

> 

*It is due to the distinguished Senator from South Carolina to sta|e that, when 
IVT Cass had conceded his remariis, he observed that he had misunderstood 
h'' as to the defence of the line 5 that the fortresses and the four regiments 
lid be appropriated but to a part of it. If so, a large portion of ti»e country 
^^ Id be left undefended, and the whole plan of operation would fail. Such a 
plan to be effectual, must guard the whole line. 



f.IPE OF GENERAL CASS. 309 

est dreams, ever expected to subjugate that country. Our object 
was to compel her to do us justice, by injuring her wherever we 
could. History is tilled with instances of offensive wars, under- 
taken with no expectation of subjugation. Indeed, were it other- 
wise, there would be few offensive wars, unless those undertaken 
by very large states against very small ones. If it were so, per- 
haps the world would be better off. That question, however, is 
not before me, and I shall not travel out of my way to meet it. 

The Senator says we have gained six hundred thousand square 
miles, and who would continue the war to secure the acknowledg- 
ment of Mexico ? But, sir, it is that very acknowledgment, which 
is to give us the country. Until the right, which cession gives, is 
added to the right derived from conquest, we can make no acqui- 
sition of territory. We are still at war. It is that very act of ac- 
knowledgment, which constitutes peace, and without which there 
can be no peace. * * * * * 

"The Senator also has submitted many sound observations re- 
specting the diversity of character, of races, and of institutions, 
which exist between us and Mexico, and he deprecates, with equal 
zeal and justice, the union of the Mexican people and ours. I 
fully agree, sir, in all that. It would be a deplorable amalgama- 
tion. No such evil will happen to us in our day. We do not want 
the people of Mexico, either as citizens or subjects. All we want 
is a portion of territory, which they nominally hold, generally un- 
inhabited, or, where inhabited at all, sparsely so, and with a popu- 
lation, which would soon recede, or identify itself with ours. The 
Senator says, speaking of Mexico, "what are you to do with the 
territory?" I answer, nothing at all, as a permanent acquisition. 
"Will you," says the Senator, "incorporate it in your Union?" 
Certainly not. We shall hold it as a means of procuring an hono- 
rable peace. And such a peace it may be made to procure for us. 
* * * * * * , * 

"The eyes of Europe are upon us. Nothing worse can happen 
to us, than to stop ingloriously. That is our last resource. We 
have, then, but to prosecute this war, as other wars are prosecu- 
ted by other nations. We have but to discard dangerous experi- 
ments, and to hold on to the experience of the world. We must 
breast ourselves to the shock. We must continue our occupation 
of Mexico, and push the invasion still farther. We must do as 
other people have done — we must attack and disperse her armies, 
take possession of her towns, and capture her fortresses. There 
seems to be some analogy between the cities of Paris and Mexico, 
Both are the native seats of revolutions. Both exert a preponde- 
rating influence over their respective countries. I have no right 
to give an authoritative opinion, respecting the expediency of a 
demonstration upon the capital. Still, I do not hesitate to say, 
that I think it would be a wise and probably decisive measure. It 
would disperse the Government, and weaken, if not break, its hold 
upon public opinion. It would divert the revenues from them to 
us. And, in addition to this resource, I agree fully with the hon- 



310 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

orable Senator from Missouri in opinion, tliat we should call con- 
tributions to our aid, in defraying our military expenses. It is a 
legitimate means of support for hostile armies. It belongs to the 
present age, and not e.xclusively to the past. During ail the wars 
in Europe in our time, almost the first thing the commander of a 
foreign army does, on entering an enemy's town, is to convene 
the magistrates, and make requisitions upon them for bread, meat, 
wine, forage, and such other supplies as are wanted. And this, 
too, under threat of military execution. And the process has 
been found effectual, and the practice universal. 

But it is said, Mr. President, that the Mexicans will fight till the 
last extremity. It may be so. There are many desperate deeds 
recorded in history, and obstinacy is a prominent trait in the 
Spanish character, and belongs to all the affiliated people of that 
stock. But men do not fight for the mere purpose of being killed. 
We do not enter Mexico to conquer her — only to conquer a peace. 
We do not assail her independence. We do not seek her' perma- 
nent subjugation. We only ask her to do us justice. It seems to 
rae, then, that this is not one of those cases, sometimes prominent 
in the history of nations, where the public energy is aroused to a 
fit of desperation, and by which means victories are achieved 
against all previous calculations. Without government, without 
trade, without resources, sowing, but not to reap, or reaping but 
not to enjoy, and with all the evils of hostile occupation, I cannot 

but think, that the Mexican people may be conquered — to justice. 

******* 

During a considerable portion of last session of Congress, we 
were occupied in the consideration of the thesis, that nations can- 
not go to war in this enlightened acre of the world. How we 
should have decided that difficult question, had a decision become 
necessary, I do not venture to assert. Our deliberations were sud- 
denly interrupted by the sound of hostile cannon from India, from 
Australia, from the Cape of Good Hope, from Algiers, from the 
Caucasus, and from the La Plata, and still nearer and louder from 
our own frontier, which announced, that old fashioned war, with 
all its evils, still found abiding places upon the earth, and that we 
were yet far from the age of universal peace and benevolence. 
The disinterested English journals read us many a homily upon 
our pugnacious propensities ; and some of the continental papers 
of Europe, expressed their holy horror at the assurance of that 
great, unbridled, trans-Atlantic democracy, in thinking it had 
honor and interests to assert, and courage to defend them. * * 

But, sir, passing from the external view of our difficulties with 
Mexico, we have still an internal one to take, which involves much 
higher considerations. The causes of the war are a grave subject 
of discussion. Public opinion is investigating and pronouncing 
its judgment upon them. For myself, 1 have no fear of the re- 
sult. The more the question is examined, the more manifest will 
be our wrongs, and the clearer our forbearance. In the Presi- 
dent's last annual message, an interesting synopsis was given of 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. ' 311 

the conduct of Mexico towards this couutry. No more conclusive 
review of national injuries has ever appealed to the public opinion 
of this country, or of the world. It recapitulates, calmly, and 
with truth and force, the still accuniulatnig wrong.-^, we had suffer- 
ed, and the final act, Avhich crowned them — the invasion of our 
country and the attack upon the army ; an attack, which the Mex- 
ican authorities declared they woukl make, as far east as the Sa- 
bine river. 

I shall not, Mr. President, go over the whole ground of our diffi- 
culties with Mexico. I regret, that it becomes necessary to inves- 
tigate their history in this place. I regret, that unanimity does 
not prevail upon this subject, when unanimity is so essential to 
prompt and vigorous aclion. While I regret it, however, 1 im- 
pugn the motives of no one. Thank God, we are as free to inves- 
tigate the conduct of the Government, as we are to breathe the 
air of heaven. But while I concede to others the same right I 
claim for myself—the right to examine freely, and to judge openly, 
the conduct of the Government in its intercourse with other na- 
tions — 1 may be allowed to express the regret, and together with 
the regret, the surprise, that throughout the country one undivided 
sentiment had not prevailed — that the conduct of Mexico left us 
no choice between war and dishonor. 

We were the first to receive that republic into the family of na- 
tions. Our complaints against her con)menced almost with the 
commencement of her independence. They go back to the year 
1817, and come down to the present day, in one almost uninter- 
rupted series of outrages. I shall not state them seriatim, nor 
enter into the detail of their nature and extent. This has been 
repeatedly done, and the official documents are before the country. 
I will merely classify from an able report, made by Mr. Forsyth in 
1837, the various heads of complaints, which will present the gene- 
ral aspect of the subject : 

1. Treasure belonging to citizens of the United States has been 
seized by Mexican officers in its transit from the capital to the coast. 

2. Vessels of the United States have been captured, detained, 
and condemned, upon the most frivolous pretexts. 

3. Duties have been exacted from others notoriously against 
law, or without law. 

4. Other vessels have been employed, and, in some instances 
ruined in the Mexican service, without compensation to the owners. 

5. Citizens of the United States have been imprisoned for long 
periods of time, without being informed of the offences with which 
they were charged. 

6. Other citizens have been murdered and robbed by Mexican 
officers on the high seas, without any attempt to bring the guilty 

to justice. 

In presenting to Congress these causes of complaint agamst 
Mexico in 1837, General Jackson stated that they "would justify, 
in the eyes of all nations, immediate war." This sentiment wag 



312 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

responded to by the Committee on Foreign Relations, both in the 
Senate and in the House of Representatives ; the former of whom 
looked to a presentation of the subject at the next session of Con- 
gress, and could not doubt, but that such measures would be im- 
mediately adopted, as might be necessary to vindicate the honor of 
the country, and insure ample reparation to our injured citizens. 
And the latter said they "fully concur with the President, that am- 
ple cause exists for taking redress into our own hands, and believe, 
that we shall be justified in the opinion of other nations for taking 
such a step." President Van Buren, in December, 1837, in his 
message to Congress, said that "though our causes of complaint, 
and some of the most offensive character, admitted of an immedi- 
ate and satisfactory reply, yet it was only within a few days that 
any answer had been received, and that no satisfaction had been 
given or offered for one of our public complaints, and that only 
one case of personal wrong had been favorably considered, and 
that but four cases out of all, had been decided by the Mexican 
Government." President Van Buren distinctly told Congress, that 
redress was beyond the reach of the Executive, and could only be 
obtained by the action of Congress, which action must, of course, 
have been war. 

As to the conventions, which have since been made by the two 
countries, and violated by Mexico, I need not enter into their his- 
tory : they are Iresh in tlie recollection of all. These three con- 
ventions, by the infidelity of the Mexican Government, have pro- 
ved nearly fruitless; and after thirty years of injury on the one 
side, and of remonstrance on the other, there is nothing left for us, 
but to abandon all hope of redress, or to obtain it by a vigorous 
prosecution of the war. Is there another government on the face 
of the earth which would have been thus patient, not to say hum- 
ble, during the long progress of such aggressions? And it is now 
too late to tell us, that we have hastily and unnecessarily com- 
menced war, when the war was commenced by the enemy, and 
when, if we had struck the first stroke, we should have been jus- 
tified in the eyes of the world, and of posterity. But it may be 
said, and it has been said, that although sufficient causes of war 
existed on our part, still it was not these causes, which provoked 
immediate hostilities. This view, if true, has relation to the expe- 
diency, and not to the justice of the war. But what are the gene- 
ral facts, upon which a just conclusion can be formed ? After 
the convention of Texas had decided, that that republic would aij- 
nex herself to the United States, agreeably to the terms heJd out 
in the act of Congress, but before its consummation by a vote of 
the Texan people, we were under a strong moral obligation to pro- 
tect her from any foreign invasion, and more particularly from any 
invasion, to which she might be exposed by the manifestations of 
her intentions to attach herself to the United States. I shall not 
argue this point. No illustration can make it stronger. As soon, 
therefore, as the incipient steps had been taken, our troops entered 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 313 

Texas, by the invitation of the proper authorities, and on the loth 
day of August, 1815, they had taken a position at Corpus Christi, 
west of the Nueces, and remained there till the 17th of March, 
1846, when they inarched for the Rio Grande. So much for our 
military movements. 

Two causes are alleged, as giving Mexico just cause of war 
against the United States. The first, which is the annexation of 
Texas, is jointly urged both in Mexico and in this country. The 
second, which I believe finds its advocates only in the United 
States, is that our army occupied the country between the Nueces 
and the Rio Grande. 

As to the first, it has passed the ordeal of public opinion, and 
received its final judgment. 1 do not flatter myself, that I could 
present any new views of a subject, so long and so publicly dis- 
cussed. But, as it stands in my way, and I cannot avoid it, I shall 
venture to submit a few reflections, which have occurred to me. 

The right of a country to reduce to obedience a portion of its 
territory, asserting independence by arms, is not denied. The re- 
cognized principles of the law of nations require other powers to 
afTord no aid to either party, during the actual progress of the con- 
troversy. They may acknowledge, however, and in fact, they often 
do acknowledge, the independence of the insurrectionary province, 
without giving to the Government, claiming its allegiance, any just 
cause of offence. They did so to Mexico during the progress of 
her revolutionary war with Spain, and they did so to Texas, while 
a similar relation existed between her and Mexico. But there is 
a limit to this right. Such a war cannot last forever, and two na- 
tions cannot forever be kept in this peculiar attitude, involving deli- 
cate questions, that may at any time disturb the peace of the world. 
When Greece declared her independence of Turkey, the Porte 
waged a war of many years to reduce her to subjection. The 
principal powers of Europe, believing that a reasonable o])portu- 
nity had been afforded to the Turkish Government to re-establish 
its supremacy, and in which efibrt it had failed, determined, that 
an end should be put to the operations. They therefore interfered, 
and announced to the Sultan, that the time had come when Greece 
must be independent. And this declaration was maintained by 
force, and at Navarino, to use a villified, but very proper expres.s- 
ion, they conquered a peace. This is perhaps a strong case, for 
this interference took phce Jia(rratitc hello, while a Turkish army 
was yet engaged in operations to put down the spirit of freedom 
in Greece. As a general principle, it may be assumed, that while 
both parties are waging open war, to assert their superiority, other 
nations should look on and peacefully bide the issue. But when 
the contest is actually abandoned, and the invading party with- 
draws from the disputed territory, and relinquishes all military op- 
erations, the struggle is over. Independence is established, and 
whatever may be the nominal relations of the two countries, they 
are henceforth in the same attitude — equal powers among the na- 



314 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

tions of the earth. The war is ia effect ov'er, and its rights should 
pass away with itself. This is the true view of the subject ; and 
applying these principles to the then existing relations, between 
Mexico and Texas, we shall find that the latter power was as free 
from Mexico, as we are from England. No effort had been made 
by the Mexican Government for ten years to reduce her revolted 
province to subjection. Not a hostile foot had trodden the Texan 
soil. A chief magistrate, and at the same time, commander-in- 
chief, captured ; an army destroyed ; and all invaders repelled, 
were the fruits of her last exertion. They crowned at once her 
patriotism, and sealed her fate. She was thenceforth independent. 
And no more decisive evidence of this result can be furnished, 
than the very conduct of Mexico herself What did she do, proba- 
bly under other promptings, when it was ascertained, that Texas 
desired admission into our Confederacy ? She offered to acknowl- 
edge her independence, if she would pledge herself not to join the 
American Union. A jealous and an unworthy proposal, which 
the one had no right to make, and which the other indignantly re- 
jected. A proposal, which was, in fact, the very recognition of- 
fered. It acknowledged the strength of Texas, and the weakness 
of Mexico, and that further efforts at subjugation were hopeless. 
For myself, I have always considered that act of the Mexican Go- 
vernment, as an abandonment of the controversy, and an admis- 
sion, that Texas was independent of her, and beyond her power. 

But as reasonable men, looking at things as they are, what in- 
jury have we inflicted upon Mexico, under any just view, ihat can 
be taken of her relations with Texas? What has she lost by our 
interference? Her own claim may lie summed up in this, that 
she had a contingent right to reduce Texas to submission. And 
what was that ricrht worth ? Where is the man in Texas, in Mex- 

.... 

ico, even in Christendom, who believes there was a bare possibili- 
ty, that the Texan people could ever be replaced in their primitive 
condition by the power of the Mexican Government? The thing 
was impossible. Its time had gone by. Events had rolled over 
and crushed all hopes of recovery. Of what, then, does Mexico 
complain ? Certainly of no pecuniary injury, for none has been 
inflicted. If annexation has had any effect, in this point of view 
that effect has been beneficial ; for it has saved to the Mexican 
people an immense and useless expenditure of blood and treasure. 
Is there any point of honor involved ? I can discern none. For 
the principal fact that Mexico was powerless, was felt and acknowl- 
edged by ail the world. I know what may be said upon this sub- 
ject, sir. Rights may be pushed to their extremes; principles to 
their utmost bearing. And as Mexico had an absolute right, we 
should have left it to her. 1 do not deal with such questions, nor 
with their consequences. I take the public affairs of this world, 
as they are, judging them by the rules of common sense, and pro- 
nouncing them just or unjust, as they come up to, or recede from, 
that universal standard. 



LIFK OF (JENEKAL CASS. 315 

But, sir, there is one consideration, which renders it proper we 
should still keep in view the previous wrongs, which Mexico had 
inflicted upon us. Her conduct, in the long progress of these out- 
rages, had established her character. Redress was impossible. 
Thirty years were, with her, as one day, and one day as thirty 
years ; for, at the end of that period, we were about where we be- 
gan, so far as respects satisfaction, while our causes of complaint 
had gone on accumulating, almost in an inverse proportion, to the 
lapse of time. We had found, by experience, there ccmld be no 
amicable and satisfactory adjustment of our difficulties with Mex- 
ico. We had learned — and learned to our sorrow — that what we 
got we had to take with the strong hand. Wiiat greater probabi- 
lity was there, that we should adjust the question of unsettled boun- 
daries, after her hostile and peremtory declaration, than that we 
should adjust our causes of complaint, many of which she admit- 
ted, and scarcely any of which she denied? We claim Texas to 
the Rio Grande I will not stop to examine the grounds of that 
claim. This has been explained and defended by others, more 
competent to the task than 1 am. In this Senate the strongest po- 
sition I have heard taken in opposition to the extent of this claim, 
is, that much may be said on both sides. Well, then, we had a 
reasonable claim. I say, an undoubted one, and we took the as- 
sertion of it into our own hands. And, the jeremaiads of the Lon- 
don journals to the contrary notwithstanding, I do not believe there 
is a government in Christendom, if it felt itself able, which, under 
similar circumstances, would not have done as we did. The past 
had marked out the future. The indication was unerring. And 
we judged for ourselves, and acted for ourselves, as we had a right 
to do, after Mexico, for the third part of a century, had shown a 
dogged determination to refuse us justice. 

But, sir, had we taken the initiative, and commenced war im- 
mediately, we should have been justified from other considerations. 
When the act for annexation passed, the Mexican Minister in this 
country immediately protested against that measure ; and, in fact, 
declared it to be just cause of war. And this view was more au- 
thoritatively announced by the supreme Government" of Mexico, 
March V2, 1340, which declared, in a note to Mr. Slidell, that it 
looked '• upon annexation as a casus belli ; and as a consequence 
of this declaration, negotiation was by its very nature at an end, 
and war was the only recourse of the Mexican Government." But 
before this last and decisive act, the Government of Mexico had 
given many indications of its determination to resist, by force, the 
annexation of Texas ; and particularly those announced in the com- 
munications from our Consul, and from our Minister in Mexico, 
and in the letter of the Mexican Minister of Foreign Alfurs, of 
December 29, 1845. In this last document, that functionary says 
that "^the questions which have disturbed the harmony between 
the two countries, will bring on a war between them, unless such 
settlement be effected in a satisfactory manner," &.c. What set- 



316 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

tlement the Mexican Government demanded, and for want of which 
it is said a casus belli had occurred, was a change in our relations 
with Texas ; leaving to Mexico the assertion of her assumed rights 
over it. In short, sir, from the first moment it appeared probable, 
that Texas would be admitted into our Confederacy, to our latest 
diplomatic communication with her Government, Mexico has told 
us and the world, that annexation would be, and is war ; and she 
went on preparing to add deeds to declarations, by the concentra- 
tion of her forces, so as to be ready to take the " initiative" in hos- 
tilities against us, to borrow the expression of General Paredes in 
his orders to the Mexican commanding general. I need not reca- 
pitulate the series of facts, which announced and confirmed her 
purposes. They have passed into history, and are known to us 
all. The Texas of Mexico, was Texas to the Sabine, with no in- 
termediate boundary, to which we might go with impunity, and 
make the country our own. That river was a Rubicon, and it be- 
came us to pause and ponder on its banks, before we crossed its 
stream, and carried our standard to the country beyond. In all 
the communications of the Mexican Government, no distinction 
is made between the Nueces and the Rio Grande. And the oc- 
cupation, by our forces, of the country between these rivers, which 
took place in August, 1845, was never presented as an exclusive 
cause of complaint, nor indeed, noticed in any manner whatever. 
It was the annexation and occupation of Texas, and not of any 
particular portion of Texas, which led to the reclamations, and fi- 
nally to the hostilities of Mexico. It was a question of title, and 
not of boundary. A claim of right, which went for the whole, and 
would never be satisfied with the relinquishment of a part. And, 
sir, the warning and threatenings of Mexico were no vain boast- 
ings. She said what she would do, and she did as she said. At 
the commencement of April, 1846, and before it could have been 
known in Mexico, that General Taylor had advanced to the Rio 
Grande, the President of that republic directed its general upon 
the frontier to " attack" our army " by every means, which war 
permits." It was not till after this, and in fact till after our occu- 
pation of the country west of the Nueces, for upwards of eight 
months, without a single allusion to that river, that it first makes 
its appearance in a Mexican communication. And it is then found 
in a letter from Ampudia to General Taylor, who is required to 
break up his camp within twenty-four hours, and to withdraw to 
the eastern side of the Nueces. Such a demand, under such cir- 
cumstances, admitted but one answer, and it got it, and that an- 
swer was No. And General Taylor was as speedy as he was brief; 
for the same day gave birth to the demand, and to the refusal. It 
surely cannot be necessary to enter into the decisive considera- 
tions, going to show that such a retrograde movement was then 
impossible. We had taken up a position peaceably within our own 
territory, as we claimed it, and with no intimation from our oppo- 
nent, that that position was any more an infraction of his rights, 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 317 

than would have been the occupation of the western bank of the 
Sabine. I repeat, that during eight months, we had been west of 
the Nueces, without one word of complaint for having passed that 
river * * *-* * * * * * * 

But, sir, passing from the causes to the conduct of the war, 
another broad field of controversy has been opened to us. We 
are attacked along our whole line. The reasons, the measures, 
the motives, the objects of the Administration are equally called 
into question. I do not flatter myself, that any views I can pre- 
sent, will influence the final judgment, which the Senate and the 
country must pronounce on this great controversy; still, I have 
formed an opinion for myself, and desire briefly to state the con- 
siderations, o/a which it is founded. 

In order justly to appreciate the probable results of this war, it 
is necessary to look back upon the condition of the country, at its 
commencement. What was that commencement 1 A sudden at- 
tack precipitated a Mexican army upon a detachment of American 
troops. Twice were the assailants repulsed, and twice was the 
honor of our arms maintained, and two brilliant victories were 
gained under circumstances, which no American can recall, with- 
out emotions of pride and patriotism. We had made but inade- 
quate preparations for such an aggression. Its scene was almost 
two thousand miles from the seat of government. Our whole ar- 
my, of which only a portion was on that frontier, did not exceed 
seven thousand men scattered along the coast and interior bounda- 
ry of this vast republic. And what spectacle was exhibited when 
the news of this aggression broke upon the public ear ? The ci- 
tizens of Greece and Rome, in the brightest days of those repub- 
lics, never brought to the altar of their country a prouder sacri- 
fice. There was one universal burst of patriotic devotion. More 
than three hundred thousand men enrolled themselves, and asked 
to be permitted to march to the battle-field, and, if necessary, to 
die for their country. I have seen the conscription in Europe, by 
which armies are kept up, and freedom is kept down ; and I have 
attended the drawing, to ascertain the circumstances accompany- 
ing it. And a melancholy exhibition it is of power on one side, 
of repugnance on the other. The young men are collected at the 
place assigned for this lottery of life. Their numbers are drawn 
in succession, and they await the result with almost fearful anxiety ; 
as a great calamity is always awaited by those on whom it may fall 
and who are yet ignorant where it will strike, and where it will 
spare. And the exultation of those, who escape, and the depres- 
sion of those, who do not, are strikingly displayed, not only by the 
parties themselves, but by their immediate connexions, who ac- 
company them, and await the result with an apprehension, scarce- 
ly inferior to their own. 

But here, sir, there was none of the machinery, by which un- 
willing citizens are made conscripts and conscripts are made un- 
willing soldiers. As I remarked on a former occasion, at the first 



318 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

tap of the drum, at the first sound of the bugle, the country rose 
in arms — the artisan left his tools where he had used them — the 
farmer his plough in the furrow — the employments of life were 
abandoned — and a spectacle passed before our eyes, unseen in 
modern times. It has been computed, that almost half a million 
of men appealed to their Government for the privilege of participa- 
ting in the vindication of its honor, and in the defence of their 
country." 

The policy of Gen. Cass was, to carry on the war vigorously, 
and so ensure a successful and speedy termination of it. This 
course he regarded as most beneficial to both countries. The 
more the war was prolonged, the greater probability would there 
be of swallowing up the nationality of Mexico. 

On a subsequent day, in tne same session of Congress, while 
the bill was yet under consideration with the proposition to incor- 
porate in it the " Wilmot Proviso," Gen. Cass addressed the Sen- 
ate more particularly in reference to the impropriety of adopting 
the proviso, and the influence its passage would have upon other 
necessary and important measures then before Congress. 

From the feelings manifested by a large number of the mem- 
bers, both of the House of Representatives and the Senate, Gen. 
Cass arrived at the conclusion, that the adoption of the proviso 
would be detrimental to the honorable prosecution of the war. In- 
deed, it appears from the expression of opinion by the leading 
members of both Houses, that the whole question of the prosecu- 
tion of the war depended upon the decision in regard to the pro- 
viso. The choice presented was, the proviso or the war. If the 
former should be adopted, there would be an inglorious termina- 
tion of the war. The honor of the United States was at stake. 
Gen. Cass felt the responsibility of his position. He judged that 
the people would hold to strict accountabiltiy the public servants 
who, at a crisis so eventful, should sacrifice their country's honor 
and interest for the establishment of a principle inopportune and 
inapplicable to the great subject under consideration. He had 
studied public opinion, and satisfied himself that it indicated the 
conviction existing in the minds of the people, that then was not 
the time for the agitation of a question involving the contingency 
of a domestic dispute ; a question sufficiently important of itself, 
under any circumstances, to receive the mo.st mature deliberation 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 319 

of Congress. Six out of eight state legislatures, which had pre- 
sented their views to Congress on the subject of the acquisition of 
Mexican territory and the extension of slavery, had refrained from 
urging upon Congress the adoption of the proviso. In a speech 
of masterly argument, Gen. Cass laid before the Senate his views 
on this question, March 10th, 1847, which he closed with the fol- 
ovving declaration of what would be his action upon it : 

" I shall vote against this proviso, because — 

" 1st. The present is no proper time for the introduction into 
the country, and into Congress, of an exciting topic, tending to 
divide us, when our united exertions are necessary to prosecute 
the existing war. 

"2d. It will be quite in season to provide for the government 
of territory, not yet acquired from foreign countries, after we shall 
have obtained it. 

" 3d. The proviso can only apply to British and Mexican terri- 
tories, as there are no others coterminous to us. Jts phraseology 
would reach either, though its application is pointed to Mexico. 
It seems to me, that to express so much confidence in the success- 
ful result of this war, as to legislate at this time, if not over this 
anticipated acquisition, at least for it, and to lay down a partial 
basis for its government, would do us no good in the eyes of the 
world, and would irritate, still more, the Mexican people. 

" 4th. Legislation now would be wholly inoperative, because no 
territory, hereafter to be acquired, can be governed without an act 
of Congress, providing for its government. And such an act, on 
its passage, would open the whole subject, and would leave the 
Congress called upon to pass it, free to exercise its own discretion, 
entirely uncontrolled by any declaration found on the statute book. 

"5th. There is great reason to think, that the adoption of this 
proviso would, in all probability, bring the war to an untimely is- 
sue, by the effect it would have on future operations. 

" 6th. Its passage would certainly prevent the acquisition of one 
foot of territory ; thus defeating a measure called for by a vast ma- 
jority of the American people, and defeating it, too, by the very 
act purporting to establish a partial basis for its government." 

The Wilmot Proviso having become a subject of serious import, 
and its principle regarded as dangerous to the immediate interests 
of a portion of the people of the United States, and the proposed 
application of it subversive of their rights as citizens of the con- 
federacy, an expression of opinion from the eminent men of the 
Republic was solicited. At the request of a number of leading 
members of Congress, Gen. Cass consented to the publication of 
a letter written by him to Hon. A. O. P. Nicholson, a distinguish- 



320 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

ed citizen of Tennessee, setting forth his views on the subject of 
the proviso. This celebrated letter, so often referred to and made 
the subject of comment, from the day of its publication to the pre- 
sent time, is an important document to all who wish to understand 
the views of its distinguished author, as expressed by himself, on 
the great question which it discusses, and is here given entire : 

Letter from Hon. Lewis Cass on the War and the Wilmot Proviso. 

Washington, December 24, 1847. 

Deak Sir : I have received your letter, and shall answer it as 
frankly as it is written. 

You ask me whether I am in favor of the acquisition of Mexi- 
can territory, and what are my sentiments with regard to the Wil- 
mot Proviso? 

I have so often and so explicitly stated my views of the first 
question, in the Senate, that it seems almost unnecessary to repeat 
them here. As you request it, however, I shall briefly give thera. 

I think, then, that no peace should be granted to Mexico, till a 
reasonable indemnity is obtained for the injuries which she has 
done us. The territorial extent of this indemnity is, in the first 
instance, a subject of Executive consideration. There the Con- 
stitution has placed it, and there I am willing to leave it; not only 
because 1 have full confidence in its judicious exercise, but be- 
cause, in the ever-varying circumstances of a war, it would be in- 
discreet, by a public declaration, to commit the country to any line 
of indemnity, which might otherwise be enlarged, as the obstinate 
injustice ^of the enemy prolongs the contest, with its loss of blood 
and treasure. 

It appears to me that the kind of metaphysical magnanimity, 
which would reject all indemnity at the close of a bloody and ex- 
pensive war, brought on by a direct attack upon our troops by the 
enemy, and preceded by a succession of unjust acts for a series of 
years, is as unworthy of the age in which we live, as it is revolt- 
ing to the common sense and practice of mankind. It would con- 
duce but little to our future security, or, indeed to our present 
reputation, to declare that we repudiate all expectation of compen- 
sation from the Mexican government, and are fighting, not for any 
practical result, but for some vague, perhaps philanthropic object, 
which escapes my penetration, and must be defined by those who 
assume this new principle of national intercommunication. AH 
wars are to be deprecated, as well by the statesman, as by the phi- 
lanthropist. They are great evils ; but there are greater evils than 
these, and submission to injustice is among them. The nation 
which should refuse to defend its rights and its honor, when assail- 
ed, would soon have neither to defend ; and when driven to war, 
it is not by professions of disinterestedness and declarations of 
magnanimity, that its rational objects can be best obtained, or 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS 321 

Other nations tauglit a lesson of forbearance — the strongest secu- 
rity for permanent peace. We are at war with Mexico, and its 
vigorous prosecution is the surest means of its speedy termination, 
and ample indemnity the surest guaranty against the recurrence 
of such injustice as provoked it. 

The Wilraot proviso has been before the country some time. It 
has been repeatedly discussed in Congress, and by the public press. 
I am strongly impressed with the opinion, that a great change has 
been going on in the public mind upon this subject — in my own 
as well as others ; and that doubts are resolving themselves into 
convictions, that the principle it involves should be kept out of the 
National Legislature, and left to the people of the confederacy in 
their respective local governments. 

The whole subject is a comprehensive one, and fruitful of im- 
portant consequences. It would be ill-timed to discuss it here. I 
shall not assume that responsible task, but shall confine myself to 
such general views as are necessary to the fair exhibition of my 
opinions. 

We may well regret the existence of slavery in the southern 
States, and wish they had been saved from its introduction. But 
there it is, and not by the act of the present generation : and we 
must deal with it as a great practical question, involving the most 
momentous consequences. We have neither the right nor the 
power to touch it where it exists ; and if we had both, their exer- 
cise, by any means heretofore suggested, might lead to results 
which no wise man would willingly encounter, and which no wood 
man could contemplate without an:?iety. 

The theory of our Government presupposes that its various 
members have reserved to themselves the regulation of all subjects 
relating to what may be termed their internal police. They are 
sovereign within their boundaries, except in those cases where 
they have surrendered to the General Government a portion of 
their rights, in order to give effect to the objects of the Union, 
whether these concern foreign nations or the several States them- 
selves. Local institutions, if I may so speak, whether they have 
reference to slavery, or to any other relations, domestic or public, 
are left to local authority, either original or derivative. Congress 
has no right to say that there shall be slavery in New York, or that 
there shall be no slavery in Georgia ; nor is there any other human 
power but the people of those States, respectively, which can 
change the relations existing therein; and they can say, if they 
will. We will have slavery in the former, and we will abolish it in 
the latter. 

In various respects the Territories differ from the States. Some 
of their rights are inchoate, and they do not possess the peculiar 
attributes of sovereignty. Their relation to the General Govern- 
ment is very imperfectly defined by the Constitution ; and it will 
be found, upon examination, that in that instrument the only grant 
of power concerning them is conveyed in the phrase, '" Congress 



322 "LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

shall have the power to dispose of and make all needful rules and 
regulations respecting the territory and other property belonging 
to the United States." Certainly this phraseology is very loose, if 
it were designed to include in the grant the whole power of legis- 
Jation over persons, as well as things. The expression, the "ter- 
ritory and other property," fairly construed, relates to the public 
lands, as such, to arsenals, dock-yards, forts, ships, and all the 
^ various kinds of property, which the United States may and must 
possess. 

But surely the simple authority to dispose of and regulate these, 
does not extend to the unlimited power of legislation; to the pas- 
sage of all laws, in the most general acceptation of the word ; 
which, by the by, is carefully excluded from the sentence. And, 
indeed, if this were so, it would render unnecessary another pro-^ 
vision of the Constitution, which grants to Congress the power to 
legislate, with the consent of the States, respectively, over all 
places purchased for the " erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, 
dock-yards," &c. These being the "property^' of the United 
States, if the power to make " needful rules and regulations con- 
cerning" them includes the general power of legislation, then the 
grant of authority to regulate " the territory and other property of 
the United States" is unlimited, wherever subjects are found for 
its operation, and its exercise needed no auxiliary provision. If, 
on the other hand, it does not include such power of legislation 
over the "other property" of the United States, then it does not 
include it over their "territory ;" for the same terms which grant 
the one, grant the other. " Territory^' is here classed with pro- 
perty, and treated as such ; and the object was evidently to enable 
the General Government, as a property-holder — which, from ne- 
cessity, it must be — to manage, preserve, and " dispose of" such 
property as it might possess, and which authority is essential al- 
most to its being. But the lives and persons of our citizens, with 
the vast variety of objects connected with them, cannot be con- 
trolled by an authority which is merely called into existence for 
the purpose of making rules and regulations for the disposition 
and management of property. 

Such, it appears to me, would be the construction put upon this 
provision of the Constitution, were this question now first present- 
ed for consideration, and not controlled by imperious circumstan- 
ces. The original ordinance of the Congress of the Confedera- 
tion, passed in 1787, and which was the only act upon this subject 
in force at the adoption of the Constitution, provided a complete 
frame of government for the country north of the Ohio, while in 
a teriitorial condition, and for its eventual admission in separate 
States into the Union. And the persuasion, that this ordinance 
contained within itself all the necessary means of execution, pro- 
bably prevented any direct reference to the subject in the consti- 
tution, further than vesting in Congress the right to admit the 
States formed under it into the Union. However, circumstances 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 323 

arose which required legislation, as well over the territory north 
of the Ohio, as over other territory, both within and without the 
original Union, ceded to the General Government ; and, at various 
times, a more enlarged power has been exercised over the Terri- 
tories — meaning thereby the different Territorial Governments 

than is conveyed by the limited grant referred to. How far an 
existing, necessity may have operated in producing this legislation, 
and thus extending, by rather a violent implication, powers not di- 
rectly given, I know not. But certain it is, that the principle of 
interference should not be carried beyond the necessary implica- 
tion which produces it. It should be limited to the creation of 
proper governments for new countries, acquired or settled, and 
to the necessary provision for their eventual admission into 
the Union ; leaving, in the meantime, to the people inhabiting 
them, to regulate their internal concerns in their own way. They 
are just as capable of doing so as the people of the States; and 
they can do so, at any rate, as soon as their political independence 
is recognized by admission into the Union. During this tempo- 
rary condition, it is hardly expedient to call into exercise a doubt- 
ful and invidious authority, which questions the intelligence of a 
respectable portion of our citizens, and whose limitation, whatever 
it may be, will be rapidly approaching its termination — an author- 
ity which would give to Congress despotic power, uncontrolled by 
the Constitution, over most important sections of our ccmmon 
country. For, if the relation of master and servant may be regu- 
lated or annihilated by its legislation, so may the relation of hus- 
band and wife, o{ parent and child, and of any other condition 
which our institutions and the habits of our society recognize. 
What would be thought if Congress should undertake to prescribe 
the terms of marriage in New York, or to regulate the authority 
of parents over their children in Pennsylvania ? And yet it would 
be as vain to seek one justifying the interference of the National 
Legislature in the cases referred to in the original States of the 
Union. I speak here of the inherent power of Congress, and do 
not touch the question of such contracts as may be formed with 
new States when admitted into the Confederacy. 

Of all the questions that can agitate us, those which are merely 
sectional in their character are the most dangerous, and the most 
to be deprecated. The warning voice of him who, from his char- 
acter, and services, and virtue, had the best right to warn us, pro- 
claimed to his countrymen, in his Farewell Address — that monu- 
ment of wisdom for him, as I hope it will be of safety for them — 
how much we had to apprehend from measures peculiarly affect- 
ing geographical portions of our country. The grave circumstan- 
ces in which we are now placed make these words, words of safe- 
ty ; for I am satisfied from all I have seen and heard here, that a 
successful attempt to ingraft the principles of the Wilmot proviso 
upon the legislation of this Government, and to apply them to new 
territory, should new territory be acquired, would seriously affect 



■324 LIFE OF GENLR.VL CASS. 

our tranquillity. I do not suffer myself to foresee or to foretell 
the consequences that would ensue ; for I trust and believe there 
is good sense and good feeling enough in the country to avoid 
tiiem, by avoiding all occasions which might lead to them. 

Briefly, then, 1 am opposed to the exercise of any jurisdiction 

by Congress over this matter ; and 1 am in favor of leaving to the 

people of any territory, which may be hereafter acquired, the right 

to regulate it for themselves, under the general principles of the 

'Constitution. Because — 

1. I do not see in the Constitution any grant of the requisite 
pKjwer to Congress ; and I am not disposed to extend a doubtful 
precedent beyond its necessity — the establishment of Territorial 
Governments when needed — leavingr to the inhabitants all the 
rights compatible with the relations they bear to the Confedera- 
tion. 

2. Because I believe this measure, if adopted, would weaken, if 
not impair, the Union of the States ; and would sow the seeds of 
future discord, which would grow up and ripen into an abundant 
harvest of calamity. 

3. Because I believe a general conviction, that such a proposi- 
tion w'ould succeed, would lead to an immediate withholding of 
the supplies, and thus to a dishonorable termination of the war, 
I think no dispassionate observer at the seat of government can 
doubt this result. 

4. If, however, in this I am under a misapprehension, I am un- 
der none in the practical operation of this restriction, if adopted by 
Congress, upon a treaty of peace making any acquisition of Mex- 
ican territory. Such a treaty would be rejected just as certainly 
as presented to the Senate. More than one-third of that body 
would vote against it, viewing such a principle as an exclusion of 
the citizens of the slave holding states from a participation in the 
benefits acquired by the treasure and exertions of ali, and which 
should be common to all. I am repeating — neither advancing nor 
defendinof- these views. That branch of the subject does not lie 
in my way, and I shall not turn aside to seek it. 

In this aspect of the matter, the people of the United States must 
choose between this restriction and the extension of their territo- 
rial limits. They cannot have both ; and which they will surren- 
der must depend upon their representatives first, and then, if these 
fail them, upon themselves. 

5. But, after all, it seems to be generally conceded, that this 
restriction, if carried into effect, could not operate upon any state 
to be formed from newly-acquired territory. The well-known at- 
tributes of sovereignty, recognized by us as belonging to the state 
governments, would sweep before them any such barrier, and 
would leave the people to express and exert their will at pleasure. 
Is the object, then, of temporary exclusion for so short a period as 
the duration of the territorial governments, worth the price at 
which it would be purchased ? — worth the discord it would en- 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASF. 325 

gender, the trial to which it would expose our Union, and the evils 
that would be the certain consequence, let that trial result as it 
might ? As to the course, which has been intimated rather than 
proposed, of ingrafting such a restriction upon any treaty of ac- 
quistion, I persuade myself it would find but little favor in any 
portion of this country. Such an arrangement would render Mex- 
ico a party, having a right to interfere in our internal institutions 
in questions left by the Constitution to the state governments, and 
would inflict a serious blow upon our fundamental principles. Few, 
indeed, I trust, there are among us who would thus grant to a for- 
eign power the right to inquire into the constitution and conduct 
of the sovereign states o) this Union ; and if there are any, I am 
not among theai, and never shall be. To the people of this coun- 
try, under God, now and hereafter, are its destinies committed ; 
and we want no foreign power to interrogate us, treaty in hand, 
and to say, Why have you done this, or why have you left that 
undone? Our own dignity and the principles of the national in- 
dependence urrite to repel such a proposition. 

But there is another important consideration, which ought not 
to be lost sight of, in the investigation of this subject. The ques- 
tion that presents itself is not a question of the increase, but of the 
diffusion of slavery. Whether its sphere be stationary or progres- 
sive, its amount will be the same. The rejection of this restric- 
tion will not add one to the class of servitude, nor will its ado{>- 
tion give freedom to a single being who is now placed thereir>. 
The same numbers will be spread over greater territory ; and so 
far as compression, with less abundance of the necessaries of life, 
is an evil, so far will that evil be mitigated by transporting .slaves 
to a new country, and giving them a larger space to occupy. 

I say this in the event of the extension of slavery over any new 
acquisition. But can it go there? This may well be doubted. 
All the descriptions, which reach us of the condition of the Cali- 
fornias and of New Mexico, to the acquisition of which our efforts 
seem at present directed, unite in representing those countries as 
agricultural regions, similar in their products to our Middle States, 
and generally unfit for the production of the great staples, which 
can alone render slave labor valuable. If we are not grossly de- 
ceived — and it is difficult to conceive how we can be — the inhab- 
itants of those regions, whether they depend upon their ploughs or 
their herds, cannot be slave holders. Involuntary labor, requiring 
the investment of large capital, can only be profitable when em- 
ployed in the production of a few favored articles confined by na- 
ture to special districts, and paying larger returns than the usual 
agricultural products spread over more considerable portions of 
the earth. 

In the able letter of Mr. Buchanan upon this subject, not long 
since given to the public, he presents similar considerations with 
great force. "Neither," says this distinguished writer, "the soil, 
the climate, nor the productions of California south of thirty-six 



326 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

degrees thirty minutes, nor indeed of any portion of it, north or 
south, is adapted to slave labor; and besides, every facility would 
be there afforded for the slave to escape from his master. Such 
property would be entirely insecure in any part of California. It 
is morally impossible, therefore, that a majority of the emigrants 
to that portion of the territory south of thirty-six degrees thirty 
minutes, which will be chiefly composed of our citizens, will ever 
re-establish slavery within its limits. 

'• In regard to New Mexico, east of the Rio Grande, the ques- 
tion has already been settled by the admission of Texas into the 
Union. 

" Should we acquire territory beyond the Rio Grande and east 
of the Rocky mountains, it is still more impossible that a majority 
of the people would consent to re-establish slavery. They are 
themselves a colored population, and among them the negro does 
not belong socially to a degraded race."' 

With this last remark Mr. Walker fully coincides in his letter 
written in 1844, upon the annexation of Texas, and which every- 
where produced so favorable an impression upon the public mind, 
as to have conduced very materially to the accomplishment of that 
great measure. " Beyond the Del Norte," says Mr. Walker, 
"slavery will not pass ; not only because it is forbidden by law, 
but because the colored race there preponderates in the ratio of 
ten to one over the whites ; and holding, as they do, the govern- 
ment and most of the offices in their possession, they will not per- 
mit the enslavement of any portion of the colored race, which 
makes and executes the laws of the country." 

The question, it will be therefore seen on examination, does not 
regard the exclusion of slavery from a region where it now exists, 
but a prohibition against its introduction where it does not exist, 
and where, from the feelings of the inhabitants and the laws of 
nature, "it is morally impossible," as Mr. Buchanan says, that it 
can ever re-establish itself. 

It augurs well for the permanence of our confederation, that du- 
ring more than half a century, which had elapsed since the estab- 
lishment of this government, many serious questions, and some of 
the highest importance, have agitated the public mind, and more 
than once threatened the gravest consec^uences ; but that they have 
all in succession passed away, leaving our institutions unscathed, 
and our country advancing in numbers, power, and wealth, and 
in all the other elements of national prosperity, with a rapidity 
unknown in ancient or in modern days. In times of political ex- 
citement, when difficult and delicate questions present themselves 
for solution, there is one ark of safety for us ; and that is, an hon- 
est appeal to the fundamental principles of our Union, and a stern 
determination to abide their dictates. This course of proceeding 
has carried us in safety through many a trouble, and I trust will 
carry us safely through many more, should many more be destined 
to assail us. The Wilmot Proviso seeks to take from its legitimate 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 327 

tribunal a question of domestic policy, having no relation to the 
Union, as such, and to transfer it to another created by the peo- 
ple for a special purpose, and foreign to the subject-matter involv- 
ed in this issue. By going back to our true principles, we go 
back to the road of peace and safety. Leave to the people, who 
will be affected by this question, to adjust it upon their own re- 
sponsibility, and in their own manner, and we shall render anoth- 
er tribute to the original principles of our government, and furnish 
another guarantee for its permanence and prosperity. 

I am, dear sir. respectfully, your obedient servant, 

LEWIS CASS. 

A. O. P. Nicholson, Esq., Nashvillr, Tinn. 

The prevailing sentiment of the foreffoinfi: letter will at once ira- 
press the reader with the patriotism and nationality of Gen. Cass. 
Undoubtedly it was the offspring of a conviction in the mind of the 
distinguished writer, that the pressing upon Congress the adop- 
tion of the Proviso at that time, was urging that body, not only to 
give its sanction to an act of legislation, useless in itself, so far as 
its dir>!ct object was sought to be attained, but asking its interpo- 
sition in a shape which was, by many of the eminent men of the 
country, considered unconstitutional, besides directly opposing the 
wishes of a large portion of the members of the Union ; creating 
causes for discord and domestic hostility and endangering the honor 
and well-being of the Republic, and which, in the aspect in which it 
v/as presented to Congress, did not need the action of that body. 
Gen. Cass expressly states his opinion to be, " that slavery never 
would extend to California or New Mexico, and that the inhabit- 
ants of those regions, whether they depend on their ploughs or 
their herds, cannot be slave holders." He treats the question as 
one, not having reference to the exclusion of slavery from a region 
where it existed, but a prohibition against its introduction where 
it did not exist, and where, from the feelings of the inhabitants 
and the laws of nature, it is morally impossible it could establish 
itself It is worthy of note, that the views expressed by Gen. Cass 
in the foregoing letter, have not only entered into and marked the 
legislation of Congress on the subject, but have also been, within 
the last two years, adopted by many of the most eminent men in 
the country, establishing firmly the soundness of the position as- 
sumed by Gen. Cass at the commencement of the agitation of the 
question. 



328 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

The energetic prosecution of the war with Mexico, was re peat- 
edly urged upon the consideration of the Senate, by Gen. Cass. 
As Chairman of the Committee on Military AfTairs, he held a po- 
sition of great responsibility, and introduced a series of bills whose 
provisions were admirably calculated to accomplish a successful 
termination of the war. There were parties who were unsparing 
in their condemnation of the administration and its friends, and 
were disposed to leave the army in Mexico unprovided for and un- 
aided. It was charged upon the administration that it was its in- 
tention to subjugate Mexico and destroy its nationality, notwith- 
standing the repeated declaration by the President and his support- 
ers that no such result was ever even dreamed of, and in the face 
of Gen. Cass' own assertion, that it would be a very unfortunate 
thingtoextinguishthe independence of Mexico and annex that coun- 
try to our own. The administration, after the war was commenced, 
sought only for redress and indemnification for injuries sustained", 
and its policy was to go on with the war until Mexico would agree 
to an honorable peace. To attain this desirable object. Gen. 
Cass introduced the bill, to raise for a limited time, an additional 
military force — proposing that ten regiments of infantry should be 
added to the force already in the field to serve during the war. 
The discussion of this bill afforded an opportunity for the opposers 
of the administration and the war to exhibit their hostility. The 
American army had been successful ; the hosts of Mexico had fled 
before it and her towns and cities were in possession of the con- 
querors ; the " Flails of Montezuma " were decorated with the star 
spangled banner, and the national music of the Union sounded 
within her ancient Capitol, yet no overtures of peace were made. 
The soldiers of our army, eight or ten thousand strong, were far 
in the interior of the enemy's country, surrounded by angry and 
exasperated natives, among whom they had marched, forcing their 
way with the sword^ until they stoo4 victors within the gates of 
the city of IVIexico. The diseases of the climate and the hazards 
of war might change within a short period the relative position of 
the conquerors and conquered. To avoid such disaster — to se- 
cure what that gallant army had achieved — to put beyond hazard 
a brilliant and glorious termination of the war, was the object 
sought for by Gen. Cass in urging the increase of the army in 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 329 

Mexico. He urged it upon the obvious ground, that if a large 
force was raised and despatched to Mexico, the Mexicans would 
be convinced that peace would be their only means of salvation ; 
and that the more vigorous our preparations, the more fixed our 
determination to act with vigor and energy, the sooner would peace 
be sought for by a conquered enemy. It was surely an act of wise 
precaution to strengthen the forces in Mexico against all contin- 
gency of disaster, in the event of the prolongation of active war- 
fare. It was in introducing this bill to the notice of the Senate, 
that Gen. Cass paid the following eloquent tribute to the bravery 
of the citizen soldiers in Mexico : 

" There is one point, sir, where we can all meet, and that is the 
gallantry and good conduct of our country. This is one of the 
high places to which we can come up together, and laying aside 
our party dissension, mingle our congratulations that our country 
has had such sons to go forth to battle, and that they have gather- 
ed such a harvest of renown in distant fields. The time has been, 
and there are those upon this floor who remember it well, when 
our national flag was said to be but striped bunting, and our arm- 
ed vessels but fir-built frigates. The feats of our army and navy, 
in our last war with England, redeemed us from this reproach, the 
offspring of foreign jealousy ; and had they not, the events of the 
present war would have changed these epithets into terms of hon- 
or ; for our flag has become a victorious standard, borne by march- 
ing columns, over the hills and vallies, and through the cities and 
towns and fields of a powerful nation, in a career of success, of 
which few examples can be found in ancient or modern warfare. 

" The movement of our army from Puebla, was one of the most 
romantic and remarkable events which ever occurred in the mili- 
tary annals of any country. Our troops did not indeed burn their 
fleet, like the first conquerors of Mexico, for they needed not to 
gather courage from despair, nor to stimulate their resolution by- 
destroying all hopes of escape. But they voluntarily cut off" all 
means of communication with their own country, by throwing 
themselves among the armed thousands of another, and advancing 
with stout hearts but feeble numbers into the midst of a hostile 
country. The uncertainty which hung over the public mind, and 
the anxiety every where felt, when our gallant little army disap- 
peared from our view, will not be forgotten during the present 
generation. There was universal pause, of expectation — hoping, 
but still fearing ; and the eyes of twenty millions of people were 
anxiously fixed upon another country which a little band of its 
armed citizens had invaded. A veil concealed them from our 
view. They were lost to us for fifty days ; for that period elapsed, 
from the time u'hen we heard of their departure from Puebla till 
accounts reached us of the issue of the movement. The shroud 



330 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

which enveloped them gave way, and we discovered our glorious 
flag waving in the breezes of the capital, and the city itself invest- 
ed by our army. 

" If we recorded our history on stone, as was done in the primi- 
tive ages of the world, we should engrave this series of glorious 
deeds upon tables of marble. But we shall do better ; we shall 
engrave it upon our hearts, and we shall commit it to the custody 
of the press, whose monuments, frail and feeble as they appear, 
yet from their wonderful power of multiplication, are more endu- 
ring than brass or marble, than statues or pyramids, or the proud'- 
est monuments erected by human hands. Let it be remembered, 
sir, that these battles were fought in a great measure by new and 
undisciplined troops, hastily called at home, and speedily marched 
to the seat of warfare. By men who had abandoned the duties and 
comforts of domestic life, and who made war not a trade as in Eu- 
rope, but a temporary employment in order to defend the interests 
and honor of their country. And even the small regular army, 
which existed at the commencement of the war, had seen little ac- 
tive service in the field, and that not with a civilized foe, but in 
murderous conflicts with Indian tribes, where there was much ex- 
posure to meet and little glory to gain. Many of the officers and 
soldiers, and indeed a great majority of them, and some of their 
commanders, too, saw the first gun fired in the very field which 
they illustrated by their deeds, and moistened with their blood, 
honor, then, to the highest and to the lowest, to the greatest and 
the least — honor to the living and the dead — those who survive to 
enjoy it, and to the memory of those who sleep in a soldier's grave, 
far from the land they loved so well. And happy am I to see upon 
this floor at this moment, particularly one of the gallant officers, 
who have inscribed their names high upon the military roll of their 
country, and there are others like him in this city, who have re- 
turned from the campaign in which they distinguished themselves, 
bearing upon their persons ineff'aceable marks of courage and pa- 
triotism. A kind Providence has permitted them to come back, 
and the plaudit of grateful millions " well done good and faithful 
servants" is the proud welcome which greets them. Let modern 
philanthropists talk as they please, the instincts of nature are truer 
than the doctrines they preach. Military renown is one of the 
elements of national strength, as it is one of the proudest sources 
of gratification to every man who loves his country and desires to 
see her occupy a distinguished position, among the nations of the 
earth. I should have been proud to have been in Europe during 
our military operations in Mexico — proud to witness the effect of 
the skill and prowess of our army upon the statesman and politi- 
cians and communities of the old world." 

When it is remembered that the American army was then three 
thousand miles from home, in the very citadel of the enemy, and 
surrounded by seven or eight millions of the inhabitants of the 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 331 

country they had invaded, and who would gladly seize the first 
opportunity to massacre every one of them, it is difficult to con- 
ceive how any one can reasonably dissent from the position assu- 
med by Gen. Cass, or consider him too urgent in asking the atten- 
tion of the Senate to a subject involving such momentous conse- 
quences. Yet, the proposition met with powerful opposition from 
distinguished Senators, and the debate upon it was prolonged 
through a period of three months. The final vote was taken on 
the 17th of March, 1848, and the bill passed the Senate, the vote 
being twenty-nine in favor of its passage and nineteen against it- 
The origin of the war with Mexico, has been the subject of much 
difference of opinion ; and as an authentic and reliable statement 
of its origin and commencement, the following extract from the 
speech of Gen. Cass, delivered March 17th, 1848, in the Senate, 
is here inserted : — 

" But it has been said, not in Mexico, but here, that the origin 
of this war was not in the annexation of Texas, but because we 
carried her boundary to the Rio Grande, and took possession of the 
country between the Nueces and that river. Who says this, Mr. 
President 1 Not the government or people of Mexico, but citizens 
of our own country, who find a cause of offence for the enemy, 
which they have failed to discover for themselves. The Nueces 
is an American, not a Mexican boundary. The Texas of Mexico 
was Texas to the Sabine, with no intermediate boundary. In all 
the communications with the Mexican Government, as I have had 
occasion to say before, no distinction is made between the Nueces 
and the Rio Grande. And the occupation by our forces, of the 
country between these rivers, was never presented as an exclusive 
cause of complaint, nor indeed noticed in any matter whatever. It 
was the annexation and occupation of Texas, and not of any par- 
ticular portion of Texas, which led to the reclamations, and finally 
to the hostilities of Mexico. It was a question of title, and not of 
boundary ; a claim of right, which went for the whole, and would 
never be satisfied with the relinquishment of a part. When the 
act for annexation passed, the Mexican minister in this country 
immediately protested against that measure ; declared it to be just 
cause of war, and at the same time demanded his passports, arid 
left the country. And the supreme Government of Mexico, in 
March, 1846, informed Mr. Slidell, that it looked upon " annexa- 
tion as a casus belli ; and, as a consequence of this declaration, 
negotiation was, by its very nature, at an end, and war was the 
only recourse of the Mexican Government." And, in conformity 
with these views, forces were collected on the Rio Grande, in or- 
der that Mexico might take the "initiative" in hostilities against 
us, to borrow the expression of General Paredes in his orders to 



332 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

the commanding general. And, sir, these warnings and threaten- 
ings were no vain declarations. Mexico said what she would do, 
and she did as she said. She declared to us, that if we annexed 
Texas she would go to war. We annexed Texas, and she went to 
war. As early as April, 1846, and before the movement of Gene- 
ral Taylor could have been known in Mexico, her President di- 
rected the general upon the frontier to "attack" our army by eve- 
ry means, which war permits. 

Who, then, sir, has a right to say, what the Mexican Govern- 
ment has never said — that they went to war, not because we an- 
nexed Texas, but because we took possession of the country west 
of the Nueces ? In all the diplomatic correspondence between 
the two Governments, there is no allusion to that river, nor is any 
greater claim advanced to one of its banks, than to the other. 
Why, then, when our country is summoned to trial at the bar of 
the public opinion of the world, why should the American Senate 
swell the catalogue of an enemy's grievances, and make out a 
better case for Mexico than she has made for herself? In our 
endeavor to do right to others, let us not do wrong to ourselves. 
Let us distrust our own judgment, when we find ourselves inclined 
to take a more favorable view of the cause of Mexico, than she 
has taken for herself Let us yield to justice what we refuse to 
patriotism. There is no want of shrewdness in Mexican states- 
men. They have made the best of their own case ; and if they 
have omitted the passage of the Nueces in the catalogue of their 
wrongs, we may be sure it was no special wrong in their eyes; and 
that it was not because we crossed that river, but because we en- 
tered Texas, that our enemy attacked us, and thus commenced 
the war. 

What judgment, then, are we to pronounce upon the measures, 
which were directed to be taken by the President, previously to 
the commencement of the war by Mexico? This question is in 
fact a double one, involving two considerations : one, affecting 
our relations with other countries, and the other our own institu- 
tions only. The former touches our character and conduct before 
the nations of the earth, while the latter relates only to ourselves. 

This war was commenced by Mexico, that is, Mexico first at- 
tacked our troops ; but I agree, that if we pushed an armed force 
within the Mexican frontier without cause, that measure throws 
on us the guilt of this war. How stands this matter ? 

1. It seems now to be generally agreed on all hands, that the 
mere annexation of Texas gave to Mexico no just cause of war, 
and it follows, that if its boundaries extended to the Rio Grande, 
then we did only what we had a right to do in marching our forces 
to that river, and are not responsible for results. Both of these 
points I have noticed, and the last has been conclusively establish- 
ed by the excellent views taken of the title of Texas by the Sena- 
tors, to whom I have referred. 

2. If the title to the country from the Nueces to the Rio Grande 
was in dispute between the parties — and I believe no one here has 



LIFE OE GENERAL CASS. 



333 



ventured to deny, that we had some well founded claims to it — and 
Mexico was preparing to take possession of it, we had a right to 
anticipate her, and thus to assert our own title. 

3. But taking the strongest ground against ourselves, that we 
had no title whatever to the Rio Grande, still we had a right to go 
there, if we considered such a measure necessary to our defence, 
and if the preparations of Mexico announced a design to attack us. 

Did they announce such a determination ? No one here, sir, 
will deny that fact. I shall not detain the Senate with the various 
proofs, spread through the history of our intercommunication with 
Mexico, from the first suggestion respecting annexation, till her 
army crossed the Rio Grande in order of battle. The protest of 
her minister here — the declaration of her Government — its formal 
annunciation to the European diplomatic agents accredited to it — 
the public order of its generals, and the collection and movement 
of its forces, left no doubt of its designs, and if they had, the re- 
sult would have disclosed them. 

The movement of our troops, under these circumstances, be- 
came a defensive measure; for, as has been well remarked by the 
honorable Senator from South Carolina, [Mr, Butlek,] it is not 
necessary for the justification of a nation, that it should await an 
impending attack. That power, in fact, commences the war, which 
makes the first threatening preparations for it, and not the one, 
which merely strikes the first stroke. If a government collects its 
forces, marches them to its frontier, and makes public preparations 
for passing it, and thus for war, at the same time openly avowing 
its determination to commence it, both the reason of mankind and 
the usage of nations, authorize the people, whose peace is thus 
threatened, to anticipate their adversary, and to repel the threaten- 
ed attack, by an attack of their own. This course is strictly de- 
fensive, and modern history abounds with examples illustrative of 
the principle. 

So much for the question between us and Mexico, as to the 
commencement of the war. 

As to the internal question relating to the conduct of the Presi- 
dent, it admits of but one answer. That cases may occur, in 
which it is his duty, under his constitutional power, to repel an ac- 
tual or threatened invasion before Congress can act upon the sub- 
ject, no one can doubt ; and for myself, I could never see any just 
constitutional or legal objections to the course he pursued in this 
whole affair. But there is one other consideration, which is deci- 
sive, and that is, that the orders for the movement of the troops to 
the Rio Grande were given by the President on the 13th of Janua- 
ry, 1846, and thirteen days before that, an act of Congress had 
been passed recognizing our jurisdiction west of the Nueces. It 
was the duty of the Executive to carry it into effect, and thus con- 
sider the boundary of Texas, as extended beyond that river. 

As the "initiative" was taken by our adversary, we took the de- 
fensive, and the attack being inevitable, it was for lis to choose 
where to receive it. Such, I repeat, is the law of nations, and 
such the practice of nations. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Appropriations for Improvement of Rivers and Harbors— Difficulties surround- 
ing the question of the right of Congress to make such appropriations— Gen. 
Cass' opinions on that subject— He sustains the position of Gen. Jack son- 
Proceedings in the Senate— Remarks and Vote of Gen. Cass— Further remarks 
—Chicago Convention— Its object— Foresight of Gen. Cass in anticipating the 
results of that Convention — His letter declining an invitation to attend it— Un- 
just and unfounded inferences drawn from the letter— Gen. Cass' exposition of 
his views on the Constitutional right of Congress to make Appropriations for 
the Improvement of Rivers and Harbors, delivered in the Senate, March, 1851. 

The subject of appropriating public money for the improvement 
of our North-western rivers and harbors is one which is of the 
first importance to a large and constantly increasing portion of the 
people of the United States. Unfortunately, owing to the variety 
of interests which the extent of our country has created, this ques- 
tion has become involved with other measures of public expendi- 
ture, not necessarily or naturally connected with it. The consti- 
tutional right of Congress to appropriate the money of the United 
States, for the improvement of our rivers and harbors on our lakes, 
has been designedly connected with the question of the right of 
that body to commence and prosecute a general system of inter- 
nal improvement, so that those who are of the opinion that the con- 
stitutional right exists in the former case, while it does not in the 
latter, are compelled, by the peculiar mode of legislation which 
has obtained in regard to bills authorizing appropriations of public 
money for river and harbor improvements, to oppose the system 
entirely as it is presented to them. If the sole question were the 
expenditure of the amount, upon localities having a national posi- 
tion in the trade and commerce of the country, it is apprehended 
that there would be few who would oppose it. But when an ex- 
penditure, clearly right and proper, palpably authorized by the 
constitution, and national in its use, is so identified with and made 
dependent upon one just as clearly wrong and unauthorized as 
the other is right, that the one cannot be obtained without the 
other, the friends of the former are forced by constitutional obliga- 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 335 

tions to oppose and resist the whole. For years past, this has been 
the condition of this deeply interesting question. In one or the 
other branch of Congress, illegal, unconstitutional provisions, di- 
recting the expenditure of large amounts of money, have been in- 
corporated with appropriations intrinsically legal, and the demo- 
cratic members of Congress have been reluctantly compelled to 
vote against the whole proposition, and when the majority was 
against them, trust to the Presidential veto, to correct the viola- 
tion of the constitution and the lavish and profligate abuse of pub- 
lic money for local benefit. 

It cannot be denied that there has always been an inclination 
with persons of a certain political stamp to give an extraordinarily 
liberal construction to the provisions of the constitution, especially 
on this point. Presidents Madison and Monroe found it neces- 
sary to interpose the veto upon profuse appropriations for works of 
internal improvements, claimed to be national in character, but, 
in fact, far otherwise. With the administration which succeeded 
Mr. Monroe's, this doctrine of the " largest liberty " in appropri- 
ating money for " internal improvements," found the utmost favor 
desired by its ardent friends. It required not a little firmness on 
the part of Gen. Jackson, to bring the construction of the consti- 
tution back to its original purity. But he succeeded in so doing, 
and the principles then re-established by him have become an ar- 
ticle of faith and party policy with the democratic party of the 
Union. The position from which Gen. Jackson rescued the coun- 
try, may be judged of from this one fact : At the time he refused 
his sanction to the act authorizing a subscription of stock in Mays- 
ville and Lexington Turnpike-road Company, there were propo- 
sitions pending before Congress for the construction of roads, re- 
quiring an appropriation in the aggregate of one hundred millions 
of dollars. The prospect was appalling, but the constitution was 
under the care of one who respected it and the great people who 
entrusted it to him, and the country escaped the evils which the 
"internal improvement " party were preparing for it. 

It has been charged upon Gen. Cass that he is opposed to appro- 
priations by Congress for harbor and river improvements. This 
accusation, like others brought against him, is without foundation 
in truth. His career in the Senate of the United States ; his de- 



336 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

clarations of his opinions on questions of public policy; his speech- 
es and votes, which are well known to the country, falsify the as- 
sertion. Gen. Cass supports the democratic creed on this ques- 
tion, as established by early precedent, and re-affirmed by Gen. 
Jackson and the Baltimore Conventions of 1844 and 1848, " that 
the Federal Government is one of limited powers, derived solely 
from the Constitution, and the grants of power shown therein, 
ought to be strictly construed by all the departments and agents of 
Government, and that it is inexpedient and dangerous to exercise 
doubtful constitutional powers." 

*' That the Constitution does not confer upon the General Gov- 
ernment the power to commence and carry on a GENERAL sys- 
tem of internal improvements." 

He does not deny the power of Congress to improve the great 
harbors and rivers, and lakes, of the Union, which are national in 
their character, and important to the commerce or defence of the 
country. While he denies the power to devise and prosecute a vast 
system of operations, whose pecuniary extent cannot be foreseen, 
or whose corrupting influence in and out of the halls of legisla- 
tion, may well excise apprehension, he has advocated and voted 
for particular appropriations, justified by the position and import- 
ance of the location to be improved. 

In a late speech delivered by Gen. Cass in the Senate, on the 
river and harbor bill, he uses this emphatic language : " With re- 
spect to harbor improvements upon the great lakes, in which my 
constituents feel a deep interest, I may be permitted, I trust, to 
make a few remarks. It is the exercise of a power essential to 
the 2^^'ospcrity of the country, and necessary to prevent a prodigal 
waste of human life." 

One instance is here given to prove by the record the position 
and action of Gen. Cass, in regard to this question. It is one of 
a character, which cannot be controverted, and must convince his 
most inveterate opponent, that he is not opposed to the judicious 
and constitutional appropriation of money for river and harbor 
improvement. The following account of the proceedings in the 
Senate in July, 1846, is taken from the Congressional Globe, and 
its accuracy will not be questioned : 

" Mr. Dix moved to take up the ri^^r and harbor bill. 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 337 

" JVfr. Bagby objected. He was opposed to the bill in principle, 
and with a view to record his vote, asked for the yeas and nays on 
the question, and they were ordered. 

" Mr. Dix stated that this was a bill of the House of Representa- 
tives, which had been referred to the committee on connnerce, and 
made appropriations for works now in progress. It had been await- 
ing the action of the Senate a long time, but had been deferred in 
consequence of the war measures. He hoped it would be taken 
up. 

" The yeas and nays were taken on the question, and stood yeas 
thirty-seven, nays fourteen, Gen. Cass voting in the affirma- 
tive. 

" The Senate took up the bill, and as in committee of the whole, 
proceeded to the consideration of the amendments reported by the 
committee on commerce. 

•'After a desultory and conversational debate, two of the amend- 
ments were adopted ; and the further consideration of the bill was 
postponed until to-morrow. 

" July 21 — On motion of Mr. Dix, the Senate resumed the con- 
sideration of the river and harbor appropriation bill. 

Mr. Atchinson moved the reconsideration of the vote by which 
the following clause was stricken out : 

" For the improvement of Little Fort Harbor on Lake Michi- 
gan, $12,000. 

Upon this motion discussion ensued. 

Mr. Cass advocated the ajipropriatiov. He argued for it on the 
ground o^ expediency and CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT. He 
denied that they were legislating for mere local views. It was the 
duty of Congress to legislate ivith a regard to local as well as 
general interests. He contrasted the importance of harbors on the 
lakes with the rivers. On the Mississippi and great western rivers, 
every species of craft could land at any point. But on the lakes, 
the God of nature had imposed the most formidable difficulties. 
He himself was once shipwTCcked near the town of Cleveland, and 
saved his life at imminent hazard. He alluded to the commerce 
of the lakes. — Last year the number of vessels of all kinds naviga- 
ting the lakes was four hundrecT and ninety-five, and thirty were 
building. Thirty-six vessels had been driven ashore — twenty total 
wrecks, and four had foundered. 

The vote was reconsidered, yeas 32, noes 19. Gen. Cass vo- 
ting for the reconsideration. The further consideration of the 
bill was postponed." 

" July 23 — Mr. Dix moved that the Senate resume the consid- 
eration of the River and Harbor appropriation bill. 

Mr, Atherton offered an amendment : Provided that no money 
shall be drawn from the treasury on account of any appropriation 
contained in this Act, unless the revenues of the government shall 
be sufficient to pay the current expenses of the year without resor- 
ting to treasury notes or loans. 

22 



338 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

On the amendment, Mr. Atherton demanded the ayes and noes, 
which being called, the amendment was lost — ayes 18, noes 33." 
Gen. Cass voting in the negative. 

After offering and discussing various amendments, upon which 
Gen. Cass invariably voted to sustain the bill, the question was 
taken upon ordering the bill to a third reading — which was done, 
ayes 34, noes 16. Gen. Cass voting in the affirmative. 

The bill was then by unanimous consent read a third time and 
passed. Gen. Cass voting for the passage of the bill. 

Here then it is established by indisputable evidence, that Gen. 
Cass has advocated in his speeches and supported by his votes, 
appropriations hy Congress for the improvemeni of our Rivers and 
Harbors. And it wiJl be borne in mind that he voted against Mr. 
Atherton's amendment, which was intended to, and would if adop- 
ted, defeat the operation of the bill. 

In further illustration of the constructioii held by Gen. Cass, as 

to the constitutional power of Congress to make grants for specific 
improvements, where the benefit will accrue to the country in gene- 
ral., the following extracts are taken from his remarks in the Sen- 
ate, April 29th, 1846, in support of the bill to grant alternate sec- 
tions of public land to the State of Michigan, to complete certain 
works of internal improvement. Upon the point of constitutional 
right, he said : — 

"As to the question of constitutionality raised by the Senator, 
[Mr. NiLEs, of Connecticut,] it has no application here. It will 
be recollected that the Government of the United States has double 
functions to perform. By the constitution it manages the external 
concerns of the country, and those internal concerns which natu- 
rally arise out of the relations which the States bear to one anoth- 
er. The General and the State Governments are kept distinct and 
independent of each other. And fin the practical exposition of 
the power of Congress, it ought to become a fundamental princi- 
ple, that a strict construction shall be adopted, so that no authori- 
ty not clearly granted, or not actually necessary to carry clearly 
expressed powers into effect, shall be assumed by it. And here 
lies the difficulty which has always been felt in the exercise of cer- 
tain functions by Congress which interfere with the State sover- 
eignties ; and which are not among the express powers enumera- 
ted in the Constitution, such as the making roads, &.c. But the 
General Government possesses another function besides that of 
special law making. It is a great land-owner, holding and having 
held more than one-half of the Union, and expressly empowered 
ty the Constitution to dispose of and make all needful rules and 
regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 339 

to the United States. Here is an unlimited authority enablinor 
Congress to take any course it thinks proper concerning the pub- 
lic lands. While the jurisdiction as well as the title is in the Uni- 
ted States, this power is unlimited. After the establishment, how- 
ever, of State Governments, the ordinary jurisdiction passes to 
the State authorities, and the power of Congress ceases as a law- 
maker, except in those cases provided for by the Constitution; and 
in other cases it retains only its power as a land-owner. It has 
got the authority to make all needful rules and regulations for the 
disposition of its property, and to dispose of it just as it pleases, 
restrained only by a wholesome discretion. And our statute books 

are filled with legislation upon this subject. 

* * * * # 

Let us not be told, as we have been told, that it is not for the 
Government to take any measures to encourage the proo-ress of 
settlement. What would this country now be, if the Alleghany 
bounded the Republic? What would be its prospects, if an in- 
terdict were laid upon the further advance of its citizens? How 
long before the scenes which afflict humanity in the old world, and 
every day threaten its repose, would be transferred^ here ? How 
long before a dense population would be seen seeking uncertain 
employment, and would find a scanty subsistence, and that not 
without the aid of public bounty, barely sufficient to prevent star- 
vation ? When the population of a country is surrounded by such 
circumstances, the evil becomes a social and not a political one — 
incurable, without an entire reorganization of society. Strong 
minds, pressed down by adverse difficulties, make themselves felt 
in efforts directed against the Government. The acquisition of 
property is utterly beyond the reach of the great masses. Life 
holds out no hope of a comfortable support in its decline. Here 
strong minds and strong passions may receive a different and safe 
direction. They have no reason to wage war against social or po- 
litical systems. A moderate share of industry will give to every 
man a farm, on which he can sit down and surround himself with 
his family. Land-owners, as a class, are unknown in this country. 
We are all stimulated by the hope of those rewards which are 
within the reach of all. Our extensive domain ihvites enterprising 
young men to occupy and improve it. Instead of being shut up 
in cities, and employed in manufactories, and witnessing the scenes 
which such a state of things bring with them in Europe, and may 
eventually bring with them here, they seek new homes in the 
West, acquire land, and have thus a most permanent interest in 
the prosperity of the country. 

Mr. C. said that, in his opinion, one of the first elements in the 
safety and stability of our institutions was this very power of emi- 
gration and settlement. Many a strong mind, which might excite 
difficulties if kept down by adverse circumstances in the midst of 
a dense population, finds free scope for enterprise and exertion in 
the vast domains of the West. And for long generations to come. 



3^0 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

whilst this outlet is op'en, and these rewards thus held out, he belie- 
ved we had nothing to fear for the permanency of our institutions. 
Mr. C. did not consider it necessary to advert to other considera- 
tions connected with the growth and progress of our Republic. 
These are sufficiently obvious, and find sufficient response in eve- 
ry American heart. 

Upon a more recent occasion, and just prior to the meeting of 
the Baltimore Convention of 1848, before which it was well un- 
derstood that Gen. Cass would be a candidate, he advocated and 
voted for a grant to the State of Illinois, of the right of way, and 
a donation of public lands for making a Railroad connecting the 
upper and lower Mississippi with the chain of northern lakes at 
Chicago. Advocating the bill in the Senate, he said : — 



a 



" As I intend to vote for this bill, I wish to say a very few words 
in regard to it. The subject has been often before the Senate ; • 
and the Senator from Connecticut, [Mr. Niles,] has as often re- 
iterated his scruples, taking the same ground that he has taken to- 
day, and carefully avoiding the grounds upon which the bill rests. 
This bill does not touch the question of internal improvement at 
all. It asserts no right on the part of this government to lay out 
a road, or to regulate the construction of a road. The federal 
government is a great land-holder; it possesses an extensive public 
domain; and we have the power, under the constitution, to dispose 
of that domain ; and a very unlimited power it is. The simple 
question is, what disposition we may make of the public lands ? 
No one will contend for the doctrine that we cannot give them 
away to a State. As the senator from Kentucky has said, every 
President has signed bills asserting the principle that these lands 
may be disposed of by the general government, without restric- 
tion as to the purpose of such disposition. We may bestow them 
for school purposes, or we may bestow a portion for the purpose of 
improving the value of the rest. What right have you to sit still 
and see your lands growing in value, through the instrumentality 
of individuals, without rendering any aid in furtherance of that 
object ? It is the settlement of the lands that makes them valua- 
ble. It is the settler who converts the howling wilderness into 
fruitful fields. It is the labor and enterprise of the settler that has 
given you in the west a magnificent empire, and one which has 
arisen within so brief a period that it is almost incomprehensible. 
When I told the story in Europe that 1 had crossed the Ohio when 
there were scarcely twenty thousand people in that country, and 
that it now contained five millions, they did not laugh in my face, 
to be sure, but they did not believe what I said. There is no par- 
allel in the history of man — no such splendid tribute to human in- 
dustry and enterprise — since the first man went out of the garden 
of Eden. It is not twenty-five years ago that I sat all night in a 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. ' 341 

canoe at the head of the pond at Chicago, there being no human 
habitation in which we could obtain shelter from "the mouth 
of the Illinois to the mouth of the Chicago river ; and now it is 
one of the great highways of travel between the northern lakes 
and the ocean. Sir, I hope the gentleman will put this upon its 
true ground, leaving out the constitutional question, and taking 
alone into consideration what is your duty as land-holders in a new 
country — a country, too, which must derive its improvement from 
the industry and enterprise of your own population, where every 
stroke of the woodman's axe redounds to your advantage. The 
man who sits down with his family in the wilderness to make for 
himself a home, evinces more moral courage than the man who 
goes into battle. No man who has not experienced the difficulties 
and dangers he has to encounter, can estimate them. I appeal to 
the senator from Connecticut to look at it in this point of view. 
He is from an old country, where such improvements have been 
ready made to his hands by his great-great-grand-fathcr. Roads 
have been made and bridges built for his accommodation ; but he 
must recollect that his cotemporaries, his friends around him, his 
children, perhaps, are going into this new country, and enduring 
privations to make that valuable which was not so before." 

Much of the misrepresentation of Gen. Cass' views on this ques- 
tion, is the result of studied and designed purpose on the part of 
his political opponents. There are persons so entirely inimical to 
any measure which receives the sanction of the democratic party, 
that they oppose what their better judgment convinces them to be 
right. From a feeling of this kind, an attempt was made in 1847 
to commit the people of the West, living on the borders of the riv- 
ers and lakes, to a disavowal of the doctrines of the democratic 
conventions, on the right of Congress to prosecute internal im- 
provements. For this purpose a convention of persons from all 
parts of the Union, was called and held at the city of Chicago, in 
Illinois, in July, 1847. The delegates to this convention, were 
self-appointed, and it was of course numerously attended. The 
ultimate object of the convention was, to bring into disrepute the 
practice of the democratic party, by procuring a vote of disappro- 
val in the convention, which would have the appearance of being 
sustained by a portion at least of the democratic party. The dis- 
tinguished men of all parties were invited to be present, by a com- 
mittee of arrangements. To these invitations, answers in writing 
were returned. A number of the most eminent whig leaders, dis- 
cussed the question at length, in their replies. Before the con- 



342 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

vention met, the intentions of those who were most active in calling 
it, became manifest ; and numbers of democrats, friendly to the 
ostensible object of the convention, declined participating, when 
they learned the real purpose for which it was projected. It is 
true that the convention did not assume an entire party character, 
but that was owing more to the firm resistance of the democrats, 
who were there, than to the wishes or intentions of the chief mo- 
vers in the affair. 

With other distinguished men, Gen. Cass was invited to attend 
the convention. In addition to prior engagements, preventing his 
acceptance, he declined being present, because it was his opinion 
that the object of it was political, and entirely incompatible with 
his views and practice, and that its labors would not effect any 
benefit. He considered that no useful plan of action could be de- 
vised or adopted by a large assemblage, among whom great differ- 
ences of opinion existed, in a time of great political excitement, 
gathered from all sections of the Union without limitation as to 
numbers, and possessing no degree of responsibility for the wisdom 
or futility of the plans it might propose. 

Gen. Cass, in a brief letter to the gentleman who invited him, 
informed him of his inability to attend. This letter, subsequently, 
formed the text for a vast amount of political hadmagc and wit, as 
well as of serious argument in opposition to Gen. Cass. Perhaps 
no four lines were ever written, which have been the subject of so 
much perversion. It was circulated in every possible shape, from 
one end of the Union to the other, during the Presidential cam- 
paign of 1848, as an evidence of the hostility of Gen. Cass to har- 
bor and river improvements. The letter does not contain one syl- 
lable on the subject, and any inference of opinion, founded upon 
it, is unfounded and unwarranted. There was no occasion for an 
expression of opinion, nor was one made. A man lees scrupulous 
about obtruding his personal sentiments upon the public, than 
Gen. Cass, might have seized upon the opportunity of avowing un- 
asked, his private views ; but such an answer, to a simple invita- 
tion to attend a public meeting, it must be admitted, would be in 
bad taste. The letter itself, which follows, shows to what extent, 
partizan zeal, can misrepresent the plainest and most intelligible 
statement : — 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS.- 343 

Detroit, May ITth. 
Dear Sir, — I am much obliged to you for your kind attention in 
transmitting me an invitation to attend the Convention on internal 
inaprovements which will meet in Chicago in July. Circumstan- 
ces, however, will put it out of my power to be present at that 
time. 1 am, dear sir, 

^ Respectfully yours, 

LEWIS CASS. 

That there may be no misconception of the views of General 
Cass on this great question, the following extracts are inserted from 
his speech, delivered in the Senate at the close of the session of 
Congress, in March, 1851, on the River and Harbor Bill : 

Mr. Cass said : 

Mr. President : — As there is not as much noise and confusion 
here as I found elsewhere upon a certain memorable occasion, the 
important circumstances of which have passed into history, I trust 
I shall meet with no difficulty in the expression of my views upon 
this occasion. I do not propose to touch the constitutional ques- 
tion involving the powers of the General Government in relation 
to the objects of this bill. I shall content myself with quoting an 
authority, which expresses my sentiments upon the subject better 
than I could do it myself. I have been challenged by an admin- 
istration journal in this city to come out with my real views — not 
by the National Intelligencer, which is a paper conducted with 
equal taste and talent, and whose editors possess characteristics 
which command the respect and regard of all who know them — 
but I repeat, I have been challenged to disclose my real views, as 
though 1 had heretofore carefully concealed them until this time. 
I have never concealed them, sir, either by writing my far-famed 
letter to the Chicago Convention, or by declining to enter into the 
discussion of political subjects at Cleveland. As to the letter, the 
comments upon which constituted the smallest game, that was ever 
played by a great party, but little is necessary to be said. I was 
asked to attend the Chicago Convention, and that was all I was 
asked. I said I should not go, and that was all I said : and this 
direct and laconic answer has been made the foundation of a thou- 
sand misrepresentations, as though a refusal to attend that meet- 
infT were the adverse expression of my opinion upon a great con- 
stitutional question. Now, sir, I did notgo for two reasons : first, 
because I believed, and yet believe, that many, not all, indeed, of 
those who were concerned in this scheme, got it up ft)r the pur- 
pose of injuring Mr. Polk and the Democratic party ; and second- 
ly, because I did not think, that the assemblage of politicians from 
large districts of country to devise plans for extensive improve- 
ments of this nature, where there is no true responsibility, and 
where a result is too often obtained by mutual arrangement and 
bargain, would do any good. And so it proved, for who has seen 



344 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

the first beneficial consequence follow from that Convention ? So 

much for my Chicago letter. 

* * * * * * . * * * * 

Now, sir, if there are any public men, who above almost all 
others, could neither deny nor conceal their opinions upon this 
whole subject, I may claim to be one of them. During the Ad- 
ministration of General Jackson, I was at the head of the War De- 
partment, between five and six years, and am responsible for all 
the estimates sent to Congress, and upon which the several acts 
of appropriation for river and harbor improvements were based ; 
and for the two sessions of the Senate, since I have been a mem- 
ber, during which bills have passed for these objects, I have advo- 
cated and voted for them, and stated fully and repeatedly, as I do 
now, the principles of my action. Who but the veriest tool of 
party, and for the worst purpose, could represent me, under these 
circumstances, as endeavoring to conceal my views, or to deceive 
the country, as to their extent or limitation ? The bird of the 
desert, that hides its head in the sand, and strives thus to elude 
observation, would be the very emblem of wisdom, when compared 
with the efforts thus charitably attributed to me. 

Now, sir, what are my views? And to this plain question, I 
shall give an answer equally plain. They are to be found in the 
paper I hold in my hand, being an extract from the annual mes- 
sage of General Jackson of 1834. I was at that time a member 
of his Cabinet, and was consulted by him in relation to this expo- 
sition of his opinions, and I concurred in them then, and have pre- 
served my fealty till this day : . 

" There is another class of appropriations for what may be call- 
ed, without impropriety, internal improvements, which have al- 
ways been regarded as standing upon different grounds from those 
to which I have referred. I allude to such as have for their object 
the improvement of our harbors, the removal of part.ial and tempo- 
rary obstructions in our navigable rivers, for the facility and secu- 
rity of our foreign commerce. The grounds upon which 1 distin- 
guished appropriations of this character from others have been 
stated to Congress. I will now only add, that at the first session 
of Congress under the new Constitution, it was provided by law, 
that all expenses which should accrue from and after the 15th day 
of August, 1789, in the necessary support and maintenance and 
repairs of all light-houses, beacons, buoys, and public piers, erect- 
ed, placed, or sunk, before the passage of the act, within any bay, 
inlet, harbor, or port of the United States, for rendering the navi- 
gation thereof easy and safe, should be defrayed out of the Trea- 
sury of the United States ; and further, that it be the duty of the 
Secretary of the Treasury to provide by contracts, with the appro-^ 
bation of the President, for rebuilding when necessary and keep- 
ing in good repair the light-houses, beacons, buoys, and public 
piers, in the several States, and for furnishing them with supplies. 
Appropriations for similar objects have been continued from that 



LIFE OF GEJiEKAL CASS. 345 

time to the present without interruption or dispute. As a natural 
consequence of the increase and extension of our foreign com- 
merce, ports of entry and delivery have been multiplied and estab- 
lished, not ordy upon our sea-board, but in the interior of our coun- 
try, upon our lakes and navigable rivers. The convenience and 
safety of this commerce have led to the gradual extension of these 
expenditures; to the erection of light-houses, the placing, planting 
and sinking of buoys, beacons, and piers, and to the removal of 
partial and temporary obstructions in our navigable rivers, and the 
harbors upon our great lakes, as well as on the sea-board." 

I repeat, sir, this succinct exposition contains the principles of 
my opinions and action. I do not pretend, nor did General Jack- 
son, that no doubt can arise in their practical application. That 
would be a condition, not compatible with the imperfection of hu- 
man language. Uncertainty enters, more or less, into all the de- 
partments of legislation, and, perhaps, into none more inevitably, 
than the great branches of public expenditure. Constitutions can- 
not establish regulations, as rigid as a mathematical problem, nor 
is there a solid wall of masonry, to which the legislator can go in 
all cases, and find himself warned, by coming in contact with it, 
that he is at the boundary of his authority, and can proceed no fur- 
ther. A liability to abuse power is inseparable from the grant of 
it, and all the cautious statesman can do is to prevent this, as far 
as possible, by fencing round the depositaries of authority with 
such checks and limitations as, without destroying the object, may 
tend to render its attainment the safer. General Jackson endeav- 
ored to do this by adopting as a rule for himself, not to sanction 
appropriations for river improvements, above the highest ports of 
entry. He thus states, in the same message, his views upon this 
branch of the subject : 

" Although I have expressed to Congress my apprehension that 
these expenditures have sometimes been extravagant and dis- 
proportionate to the advantages to be derived from them, I have 
not felt it to be my duty to refuse my assent to bills containing 
them, and have contented myself to follow, in this respect, in the 
footsteps of all my predecessors. Sensible, however, from expe- 
rience and observation, of the great abuse to which the uurestrict- 
ed exercise of authority by Congress was exposed, I have prescrib- 
ed a limitation for the government of my own conduct, by which 
expenditures of this character are confined to places below the ports 
of entry or delivery established by law. I am very sensible, that 
this restriction is not as satisfactory as could be desired, and that 
much embarrassment maybe caused by the Executive Department 
in its execution, by appropiations for remote and not well under- 
stood objects. But as neither my own reflections nor the lights I 
may properly derive from other sources, have supplied me with a 
better, I shall continue to apply my best exertions to a faithful ap- 
plication of the rules, upon which it is founded.'" 

It will be seenthat the limitation he lays down is not a constitu- 



346 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

tional one, but was adopted for his own personal guidance, to 
guard the more certainly the public interest. 

Another eminent statesman, lately in the midst of us, but whose 
brilliant career has recently terminated in death, equally to the re- 
gret of his friends, who admired him, and of his country, whom he 
served, with as pure a devotion as ever inspired a human breast, 
and whose mighty intellect and spotless integrity none questioned 
or doubted, he, also, gave us his views upon this general subject, 
and very elaborately, in his celebrated report on the memorial of 
the Memphis Convention. He concedes fully the right of harbor 
and river improvements, as that document shows, and a short ex- 
tract from it will put' us in possession of his general sentiments. 

" Having now shown that the power to raise money and to ap- 
propriate and expend it is confined to carrying into execution the 
delegated powers, it remains to be considered whether there is any 
power delegated to the Federal Government, the carrying of which 
into execution would authorize appropriations and expenditures 
for the improvement of the navigation of the Mississippi and its 
waters 1" 

" But there is not the least probability,"' continues Mr. Calhoun, 
*' that Congress will ever abandon the exercise of this power, (the 
power to improve rivers and harbors.) It has not only the right, 
as has been shown, but it is its duty to exercise it ; a duty, under 
the Constitution, to the States immediately interested, and which 
are, by one of its provisions, prohibited from adopting the only 
means by which they could themselves regulate their commerce 
with each other." 

Mr. Calhoun also sought a practical limitation to this power to 
improve rivers, for with respect to harbors, he left it wholly to le- 
gislative discretion ; but he sought it, not in self-imposed restric- 
tions, but in the Constitution itself, independent of the power to 
regulate commerce, which, in my opinion, is the only true founda- 
tion, as it is also the only actual limitation of this power. I shall 
not enter into an examination of this State paper, mnrked with the 
powerful characteristics of the author ; nor could I do so, without 
injustice, for it is some years since I examined it with care. I 
will only remark, that it denied the power to Congress to improve 
rivers, running through one State, or running through or bounded 
by two States, on the ground, that in the former case the State it- 
self is competent to improve them, without any other action than 
its own ; and in the latter case, that two States interested may, 
with the sanction of Congress, enter into a convention for their im- 
provement. But that a river penetrating more than two States 
cannot be improved by joint action, as there are no means to obtain 
it under the Constitution, and must be improved by the General 
Government. It is obvious, that this rule has no relation to the 
size or importance of the river, but to political considerations, whol- 
ly independent of its magnitude or value. 

It places in the same category the Connecticut and the Mississip- 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 347 

pi, while it excludes other rivers vastly exceeding the former in 
every utilitarian point of view, some of which are among the great- 
est of our commercial arteries. Without pursuing this view, how- 
ever, I will content myself with remarking, that the error of this 
construction seems to me to be this, that it assumes, that the im- 
provement of rivers must take place, and that where it cannot be 
effected by the States themselves, it may and must be done by the 
United States. It strikes me, that such a view is irreconcilable 
with the fundamental principles of our Government. It would 
make the General Government a kind of residuary legatee, having 
a reversionary right to all power, not otherwise disposed of. The 
reverse, I take it, is the true and settled doctrine — that to the States 
and the people belong all the powers, not granted by the Consti- 
tution. If a power is not found there, however necessary it may 
be, it cannot be assumed by Congress. Were there no authority 
to declare war, maintain an army, or to equip a navy, these acts 
could not be done, whatever pressing emergency might arise, till 
the necessary authority were granted. I repeat, that it is some 
time since I looked over this document with care, and I can there- 
fore only state the general impression, it left upon my mind. 

Now, sir, the honorable Senator from South Carolina [Mr. But- 
ler] has referred, rather triumphantly, I thought, to the resolutions 
of the Baltimere convention, and seems to suppose, that their faith- 
ful observance would prevent those of us, who acknowledge their 
obligations, from voting for any river and harbor bill. Mr. Presi- 
dent, for one, I see neither difficulty in the case, not inconsisten- 
cy in the course. This resolution, disavowing the right to estab- 
lish a general system of internal improvements — for that is the doc- 
trine reproved — was first presented to the Democratic party by that 
able and incorruptible statesman, Silas Wright, whose memory is 
embalmed in the heart of every true democrat. Well, sir, he, its 
acknowledofed father, held at the time he urnred it, and continued 
lo hold till his lamented death, the same opinions upon this sub- 
ject, which are now sanctioned by the Democratic party, and which 
authorize these appropriations for certain national objects. Can 
a doubt rest upon the mind of any man, fairly disposed, respecting 
the construction he put upon his own declaration? What he meant, 
and what the democratic party mean to repudiate, is the power to 
spread a great system of public works through the whole country, 
embracing roads, canals, rivers and harbors, and ponds, too, for 
aught I know — a system by which the Union was to be covered 
with roads and canals, as by a net-work, and whose consequences 
as well financially, in the enormous expenditure it would entail, as 
morally and politically, by the corruptions it would lead to, no man 

can seriously contemplate without alarm. 

******* 

With respect to harbor improvements upon the great lakes, in 
which my constituents feel a deep interest, I may be permitted, 1 
trust, to make a few remarks. It is the exercise of a power essen- 



348 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

tial to the prosperity of the country, and necessary to prevent a 
prodigal waste of human life. When I first removed to that re- 
gion, there was but one natural harbor free from a bar between the 
mouth of the Detroit river and Black Rock, the whole extent of 
Lake Erie, and that was at Pnt-in-Bay Island. How this great 
defect was to be remedied was a subject of anxious inquiry ; for 
almost every day demonstrated, both the danger and the difficulty 
of the navigation. I have never been exposed to more peril, than 
at Cleveland, where I was driven ashore, and narrowly escaped 
with my life; the mouth of the river being entirely closed. At 
length the plan of building piers was suggested and adopted, by 
which the current of the rivers, being confined within narrow lim- 
its, they were thus enabled, when high, to sweep away the bars, 
and so to create and preserve navigable channels. Experience 
soon came in aid of the system, and it is now found effectual for 
its objects It must be recollected, that storms arise violently and 
suddenly upon those great fresh-water seas ; and as there is not 
sea room, as sailors say, to work a vessel off, she must often perish 
with cargo and crew, unless there is a harbor uear, in which she 
can take refuse. And these circumstances render a greater num- 
ber of ports necessary, than would otherwise be required. But as 
it is, and with all the improvements, which have taken place, the 
statistics of the lake commerce for 1850 exhibit a most lamentable 
loss of life and property, as the following abstract will show : 
Loss of life ------ 395 

Loss of property ----- $558,000 

Number of vessels lost ----- 32 

The value of the property and number of persons running this 
risk are stated as follows : 

Value of the commerce- • - - - $191,000,000 

Passengers . . - - . 355,000 

American tonnage ----- 167,000 

Here, sir, is an exhibit of danger great enough to awaken the 
solicitude and command the active attention of the most careless 
legislature. I can never surrender a principle, which enables the 
government to discharge a sacred duty, dear to all my constituents; 
and I should faithlessly discharge my obligations to them, (and 
those obligations are many and great,) if I did not use all my ef- 
forts to have this trust fulfilled by the general government, so far 
as I can consistently with the constitution and the true principles, 
of sound legislation. * * * * * 



CHAPTER XV 

•Gen. Cass' sympathy for the patriots of the old world— His readiness to welcome 
them to the United States — His participation with the Citizens of Washington, 
in expressing their congratulations at the success of the people of Prance in the 
late Revolution — Extract from his remarks on that occasion — His vote in the 
Senate on the resolution of congratulation — His resolution to suspend diplom- 
atic intercourse with Austria — His remarks on the Bill offering aid to Ireland — 
His vote on the Bill — He supports the Bill authorizing the temporary occupa- 
tion of Yucatan. 

The oppressed inhabitants of the tyrannous governments of the 
old world have ever received from Gen. Cass his warmest sympa- 
thies and friendly exertions in their behalf. Willing to see the 
blessings of liberty, of free institutions and of civil and religious 
freedom enjoyed by all his fellow men, he has boldly stood forth, 

when others hesitated, and held out the hand of fellowship to the 
exile. Tyranny, in any form, whether it binds the body in mana- 
cles or closes the free utterance of the minds' thoughts, finds in 
him an uncompromising opponent. A witness of the sufferings, 
the wrongs and injustice borne by the king-ridden countries of Eu- 
rope, where the people are but mechanical puppets, yielding obe- 
dience to the will of their monarchs, and kept in submission only 
by the physical force of standing armies, he could well understand 
how grateful to the fugitive to this asylum for the oppressed, is the 
word of welcome and the hand of friendly greeting ; and when 
occasion offered no one has been more prompt to give public 
manifestations of that glorious impulse which would extend the 
area of freedom or render assistance to those struggling to obtain 
their rights and free themselves from the bondage of flagitious des- 
potism. Let the shouts for freedom be heard in any quarter of 
the Old World, and he stands ready to send back its echoes from 
the New — to send to the brave patriots of other lands, the sym- 
pathies and encouragement of twenty millions of American free- 
men. 

When the tidings reached this country of the late revolution in 
France, of the overthrow of the dynasty of Louis Phillippe, after the 



350 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

Struggles of eighteen years to build it up, he met with the citizens 
of Washington to rejoice in the success which hurled from power 
the ambitious and grasping Citizen King, and restored to the pos- 
session of the masses their rightful sovereignty. He addressed the 
meeting on that occasion, taking a brief review of the conditions 
of the European governments — the efforts of the people to estab- 
lish their freedom and assume their proper part in adopting for 
their own governance a system founded on equality and justice, 
and in such form as would most surely ensure their safety and hap- 
piness. He traced the revolutions of the continent to their sources, 
to the abuses and oppressions which, for centuries, had been en- 
grafting themselves upon those governments. The origin of the 
late movements in favor of liberty, he traced to the avowal by the 
present Pope, of his attachment to free principles. " One of the 
strangest events," said Gen. Cass, in the course of his remarks, 
*' in this day of great events, is the origin of these movements in 
favor of liberty upon the continent of Europe. Whence came 
they ? From the Eternal city — from the head of the Catholic reli- 
gion — the successor of St. Peter. Immediately on his elevation to 
the Pontificate, the Pope avowed his attachment to free principles, 
and from the Vatican went out the decree, which is now spread- 
ing through the earth. The Pontiff, who holds the keys of St. 
Peter, has found a key to unlock the recesses of the human heart. 
His moral courage was but the more tried by the difficulties of his 
position. The abuses of the government were the work of ages, 
and had entered into all the habits of life and the ramifications of 
society ; and he was surrounded by despotic governments, jealous 
of the first aspirations of liberty, and maintaining their sway by 
powerful armies. The Austrian, too, with his Pandours and his 
Croats from the banks of the Danube, had descended the ridges 
of the Alps, and had spread himself over the sunny plains of Italy. 
Almost in sight of the dome of St. Peter's, he watched, with in- 
terest and with many a threatening word, the progress of the Pope. 
But the work went on. Naples is in a state of revolution ; Tus- 
cany and Sardinia in a state of reform ; and France of apparently 
peaceful progress in the new career opened to her." 

He also supported and voted for the resolution, tendering the 
congratulations of Congress, in the name and behalf of the Ameri- 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 351 

can people, to the people of France, upon the success of their ef- 
forts to consolidate the principles of liberty in a republican form 
of government. 

It was from the same desire to spread free prmciples and en- 
courage the reformers of Europe, that Gen. Cass supported the 
proposition to send a Minister to the Papal States. Circumstan- 
ces had occurred which contributed to awaken an interest in the 
political condition of the Pope's dominions. England, too, was dis- 
cussing the propriety of having an acknowledged representative 
at the Papal court. The United States had commercial relations 
with that government, and many of her citizens were residents 
within the jurisdiction of the Pope. For the protection of these 
interests, Gen. Cass argued that policy and wisdom required that 
our government should have a representative there also. 

The struggles of the brave Hungarians, to resist Austrian ag- 
gressions upon their constitutional rights — the unfortunate result 
of those efforts — and the cruelties and barbarities of the Austrian 
tyrants, when treachery had given them the power to torture and 
murder their victims, had awakened throughout Christendom 
the commisseration of civilized nations for the one, and indigna- 
tion against the other. To Gen. Cass the opportunity seemed a 
meet one, to offer by one strong act of national legislation, the 
condolence of a great people to the oppressed, and an expression 
of their indignation towards the oppressor. Accordingly, on the 
24th of December, 1849, he introduced in the Senate, a resolution 
instructing the committee on foreign relations to inquire into the 
expediency of suspending diplomatic relations with Austria. This 
resolution he advocated in an eloquent speech, setting forth the 
reasons why he proposed such a measure. It was for the purpose 
of rebuking, by public opinion expressed through an established 
government, in the name of a great republic, atrocious acts of 
despotism, by which human liberty and life had been sacrificed, 
under circumstances of audacious contempt for the rights of man- 
kind and the sentiments of the civilized world, without a parallel 
even in this age of warfare between the oppressors and the op- 
pressed; that the government of the United States might reflect the 
true sentiments of the people, and express its sympathy for strug- 
gling millions, seeking, in circumstances of peril and oppression, 



352 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

that liberty which was given to them by God, but wrested from 
them by man. The effect of such an expression, is beautifully and 
powerfully portrayed in the following extract from his speech, in 
support of the resolution. He said : — 

" Here is an empire of freemen, separated by the broad Atlan- 
tic from the contests of force and opinion, which seem to succeed 
each other like the waves of the ocean in the mighty changes going 
on in Europe — twenty millions of people enjoying a measure of 
prosperity which God, in his providence, has granted to no other 
nation of the earth. With no interest to warp their judgment ; 
with neither prejudice nor animosity to excite them ; and with a 
public opinion as free as the air they breathe, they can survey these 
events as dispassionately as is compatible with that natural sympa- 
thy for the oppressed which is implanted in the human breast. 
Think you not, sir, that their voice, sent from these distant shores, 
would cheer the unfortunate onward in their work — would encour- 
age them while bearing their evils to bear them bravely as men 
who hope — and when driven to resist by a pressure no longer to 
be borne, to exert themselves as men who peril all upon the effort ? 
But where no demonstration of interest on the part of a government 
is called for by circumstances, a sound public opinion is ready to 
proclaim its sentiments, and no reserve is imposed upon their ex- 
pression. It is common to this country, and to every country 
where liberal institutions prevail, and it is as powerful and as pow- 
erfully exerted in France and in England as in the United States. 
Its effects may not be immediately visible. But they are sure to 
come, and to come in power. Its voice is louder than the boom- 
ing of cannon ; and it is heard on the very confines of civiliza- 
tion. Our declaration of independence has laid the foundation of 
mightier changes in the world than any event since the spirit of 
the Crusades precipitated Europe upon Asia with zealous but mis- 
taken views of religious duty." 

For the suffering sons of Ireland, Gen. Cass has publicly evinced, 
on several occasions, his warm friendship and sympathy. When 
famine and disease were decimating that unhappy country ; when 
her noble hearted people had no bread, no resources, but to lay 
down and die from the cravings of hunger, he came to their aid 
with his eloquence and influence in the Senate of the United States, 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 353 

and secured the adoption, by that body, of a bill authorizing the 
President to cause to be purchased such provisions as he might 
deem suitable and proper, and to cause the same to be transported 
and tendered, in the name of the government of the United States 
to that of Great Britain, for the relief of the people of Ireland and 
Scotland, suffering from the great calamity of scarcity and famine ; 
and also authorizing the President, at his discretion, to employ 
any of the public ships of the United States for the transportation 
of the provisions to be purchased as aforesaid ; and appropriating 
the sum of five hundred thousand dollars to carry into effect the 
provisions of the bill. Although Gen. Gass was aware that many 
of his political friends in the Senate, had doubts as to constitu- 
tional power of Congress to pasS such a bill, he gave it his unquali- 
fied support. The following brief extract will show how deeply 
he felt for the sufferings of Ireland's oppressed children — her strong 
claims upon the ' sympathy of the United States — the advantages 
we have enjoyed by the immigration of her industrious, free-hearted 
sons, who have added to our numbers, and increased the elements 
of our power and prosperity. Mr. Cass said ; — 

"As one member of this body, I feel obliged to the senator from 
Kentucky for the motion he has submitted, and for the appropri- 
ate remarks with which he introduced it. He has expressed my 
sentiments but with an eloquence peculiarly his own. While physi- 
cal want is unknown in our own country, the angel of death is 
stryking down the famishing population of Europe, and especially 
the suffering people of Ireland. The accounts which reach us 
from that country, indicate a state of distress, in extent and de- 
gree, far exceeding any previous experience in modern times. It 
is a case beyond the reach of private charity. Its fountains are 
drying up before the magnitude of the evil. It is a national ca- 
lamity, and calls for national contribution. The starving millions 
have no Egypt "where they can go and buy corn, that they may 
live and not die." From our granary of abundance let us pour 
forth supplies. Ireland has strong claims upon the sympathy of 
the United States. There are few of our citizens who have not 
Irish blood in their veins. That country has sent out a large por- 
tion of the emigrants who have added numbers to our population, 

industry and enterprise to our capital, and the other elements of 
23 



354 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

power and prosperity which are doing that mighty work from the 
Atlantic to the Pacific, that is already exciting the admiration of 
the Old World, and will stimulate by its example the exertion of 
the New. Our population of Irish descent have fought the bat- 
tles of the country with as much zeal and bravery as any class of 
citizens ; and from the heights of Abraham, where Montgomery 
fell, to the walls of Monterey, their blood has been poured out like 
water in defense of liberty. 

"We can now send to Ireland, not indeed what she has sent us, 
her children — those we cannot part with — but food for their rela- 
tives, our friends upon whom the hand of God is heavily laid. In 
a petition presented yesterday by the senator from New-York, was 
a suggestion which I am gratified to find embodied in the bill re- 
ported by the Senator from Kentucky, and which I should be hap- 
py to see carried into effect : to employ in the transportation of 
provisions such of the armed ships of the United States as are not 
required for the operations of the war. It would be a beautiful 
tribute to the advancing spirit of the age. The messenger of death 
would thus become a messenger of life; the agents of destruction 
agents of preservation ; and our eagle, which has flown above 
them, and carried our arms to the very coast of Ireland, would 
then become the signal of hope, where it has been the signal of 
defiance. I shall lend the bill my support with pleasure." 

The debate on the bill was continued after Gen. Cass concluded 
his remarks, and Mr. Mason, of Virginia, moved to change its 
character, so as to make it authorize the free transportation of 
food to Ireland in national vessels, instead of being a direct grant 
of money for the purchase and transportation of provisions. Gen. 
Cass voted against this amendment, moved by his political friend ; 
and thus showed his preference that the measure should remain a 
direct grant of money for relief purposes. Then came the final 
vote upon the bill, and on the 27th February. 1847, Gen. Cass vo- 
ted for its passage, as he declared that he should do when it was 
first brought before the Senate. 

Gen. Cass also supported the bill to enable the President of the 
United States to take temporary military possession of Yucatan. 
The executive and legislative departments of that government ha- 
ving sought the protection of the United States, from the attacks 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 355 

of the Indian inhabitants of Yucatan, upon them, Gen. Cass was 
in favor of the proposition, both for reasons of humanity and pub- 
lic policy. Yucatan had also sought the interposition of both Eng- 
land and Spain ; and the question of interference on the part of 
the United States, was closely connected with its policy in regard 
to permitting any foreign government to plant its standard on this 
continent. On these grounds, Gen. Cass sustained the bill. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Course of General Cass in the Senate meets with approval from the people — Con- 
vention at Baltimore in 1848 — Hunkers and Barnburners — Votes in Convention 
— Gen. Cass nominated for the Presidency — Remarks of Mr. Stevenson Presi- 
dent of the Convention — Gen. Cass' letter of acceptance — Baltimore Resolu- 
tions — Gen. Cass resigns his seat in the Senate — His reception by the people, 
on his route home — Campaign of 1848- -Position of Mr. Van Buren — The Utica 
Convention — Buffalo Convention — Bitterness of the opponents of the democra- 
tic party against Gen. Cass — Characteristics of the contest — Confidence of the 
democratic party in their candidates. 

The course of Gen. Cass in the Senate of the United States 
contributed to increase his fame as a statesman, and to add new 
and strong proofs of his attachment to his country and her insti- 
tutions. Every act of his senatorial career — every sentiment ut- 
tered by him, carried in itself evidence of his nationality as a 
legislator. It seems to have been with him an ever present prin- 
ciple — that mere expediency or temporary advantage should never 
be permitted to supercede the claims upon his judgment, of a well 
founded and reasonable policy. To meet the whole question at 
once and decide upon it, in view of all its bearings and consequen- 
ces, was considered by him better, than to temporize, and plan and 
intrigue to avert until some further day, the final result. It was in 
this bold and decisive manner that he met the exciting and perilous 
question which pervaded the public mind and absorbed public 
attention, previous to the meeting of the democratic Baltimore 
Convention of 1S4S. The democratic party throughout the union 
may be said to have been at that time, comparatively unanimous in 
the wish that Gen. Cass should be their candidate for the Presi- 
dency, to succeed Mr. Polk. The numerous manifestations of 
public feeling, which by means of the public press, circulated 
through the country, established the fact, that not only was he the 
favorite candidate of the democracy of a majority of the States, 
but of the democratic party within those States respectively. Every 
section of the Union, except those States having a distinguished 
citizen of their own aspiring to the Presidency, emphatically cal- 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 357' 

led upon Gen. Cass to be their candidate. They had carefully 
noted his public career, and had not forgotten the noble trait he 
exhibited, when in 1844 he took the field, in support of his suc- 
cessful competitor before the conv^ention. His views on the 
Oregon question, on the slavery question, on the tariff, on all the 
leading measures, were well known to be free from sectionalism. 
He regarded the entire country as interested in all these questions, 
and in acting upon them he was governed by what, iu his judg- 
ment, seemed most beneficial to the whole. Such a man was most 
fit to be at the head of the government, at a time when agitation 
and party spirit and an unhealthy sentiment on some topics, pre- 
vailed. The " Wilmot Proviso " had arrayed in its favor, a num- 
ber of partisans, and among them a few distinguished and promi- 
nent democrats, whose previous doctrines and practice had been 
diametrically opposed to its provisions. The excitement on this 
question reached such a height in the State of New York that two 
sets of delegates were selected to the Baltimore Convention, one 
for, and one opposed to the Proviso. The acerbity of "feeling be- 
tween these two parties was so powerful, that no concession could 
be obtained from either, nor under the circumstances could either 
participate in the action of the Convention, consequently New 
York debarred herself from casting a vote for the democratic nom- 
inee. 

The Baltimore convention assembled on the twenty-second of 
May, 1848. Hon. Andrew Stevenson, of Virginia, was chosen 
President. It was resolved that the two-third rule should govern 
in the choice of candidates for President and Vice President. The 
two sets of Delegates from New York, claiming seats in the con- 
vention, the subject was referred to the committee on credentials. 
The committee adopted a resolution, not to open the discussion 
between the conflicting parties for seats in the convention, until 
each party should pledge themselves to abide by the decision of 
the convention, and agree to support, by all honorable means, the 
nomination made by that body. To this resolution the delegates 
selected at the Utica Convention (characterized as Barnburners) 
responded that they would not pledge themselves as required by 
the committee on credentials, and that they must be admitted un- 
conditionally, or not at all. 



358 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

The delegates chosen by the Syracuse Convention (called H un- 
kers) responded, that they acknowledged the right of the conven- 
tion to settle the question of admissibility — that they wold acqui- 
esce in the decision of the convention, in determining which del" 
egation should have seats therein and that they would support 
such nominees as the convention should present for the support 
of the democratic party. 

The committe reported to the convention their proceedings, with 
a resolution in substance that the Syracuse delegates were entitled 
to seats in the convention. 

Leave was granted by the convention to the contesting parties, 
to advocate their respective claims, and gentlemen from both del- 
egations addressed the convention. Upon discussion and deliber- 
ation the convention adopted a resolution allowing both sets of 
delegates from New York to participate in all the proceedings and 
privileges of the convention and to cast seventy-two votes for the 
State, that being the number of delegates from the State of New 
York claiming seats in the convention. 

The convention being organized, proceeded to nominate a can- 
didate for the Presidency. On the first ballot, Lewis Cass, of 
Michigan, received one hundred and twenty-five votes, being the 
votes in part, of eighteen States. James Buchanan, of Pennsyl- 
vania, received fifty-five votes, being the votes in part, of eight 
States. Levi Woodbury, of New Hampshire, received fifty-three 
votes, being the votes in part, of twelve States. George M. Dallas,- 
of Pennsylvania, received three votes, being part'of the vote of the 
State of Georgia. On this ballot, the votes of the States were di- 
vided amoncf the candidates. The whole number of votes cast in 
the convention, was two hundred and thirty-six. The number 
necessary to a choice, one hundred and fifty-seven, (New- York and 
Florida not voting ;) and no one having received that number, 
there was no choice. 

On the second ballot. Gen. Cass received one hundred and thir- 
ty-three votes, Mr. Buchanan fifty-four, Mr. Woodbury fifty-six, 
and Mr. Dallas three ; — New- York and Florida not voting. No 
one receiving two thirds of the votes cast, the convention proceeded 
to a third ballot, when Gen. Cass received one hundred and fifty- 
nine votes, Mr. Buchanan forty, Mr. Woodbury fifty-three, and 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 359 

Gen, Worth five. No choice being made, the convention procee- 
ded to a fourth ballot, when Gen. Cass received one hundred and 
seventy-nine votes, out of two hundred and fifty-four, and was de- 
clared duly nominated by the convention, as the candidate for 
President. The announcement of the result by the president, was 
received with enthusiasm and long continued applause ; the entire 
convention uniting in one spirit stirring shout of approbation. 
The delegates from those States which did not cast their votes for 
General Cass, upon the last ballot, requested that their vote might 
be changed, so that the nomination might be unanimous. This 
was done ; and with the exception of one delegate from Alabama, 
and the Florida delegation, the convention was unanimous in ten- 
dering a cordial and hearty support to the nominee. The una- 
nimity with which Gen. Cass was selected by the convention as 
the Presidential candidate of the democracy, is alike an evidence 
of the extent and substantial character of his popularity, and of 
his superior qualifications for the office. 

It is a severe but salutary test to which the qualifications of a 
candidate are subjected, when he is brought under the ordeal of a 
two-third vote. None but the truly great can successfully undergo 
the scrutiny of its application ; and he who comes before the peo* 
pie, endorsed by its approbation, is most certainly entitled to their 
confidence and support. 

From among the ablest. statesmen in the country, they selected 
him whom they deemed most eminently to possess all the requis- 
ites necessary to constitute a leader ; to whose support the democ- 
racy could rally with pride and enthusiasm. 

Gen. William O. Butler, of Kentucky, was, at a subsequent ses- 
sion of the convention, nominated for the Vice Presidency. 

The venerable Andrew Stevenson, president of the convention, 
in taking leave of it, at the close of its labors, paid the following 
brief but expressive tribute to the character and capacity of Gene- 
ral Cass : — 

" I congratulate you," said he, "and the country upon the issue 
of your deliberations. I rejoice that you have done that which I 
knew you would do — ^^honored yourselves, honored the party, hon- 
ored the country, by presenting two candidates worthy — most wor- 
thy — to fill these high and distinguished stations. Gentlemen, you 
liave discharged that duty. With one of these nominees, I have 



360 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

been intimate from early life. I know him well. I have observed 
him at home and abroad, and I can say, unhesitatingly, that if there 
be one man of stainless character — if there be one man whose 
claims to public confidence are founded upon private virtue, that 
man is Lewis Cass. 

Gen. Cass was notified of his nomination by a written commu- 
nication from the President and Vice Presidents of the convention, 
to which he returned the following letter of acceptance. 

Washington, May 30, 184.8 

Gentlemen : — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of 
your letter of the •23th instant, announcing to me that I have been 
nominated by the convention of the democratic party its candidate 
for the office of President of the United States, at the approaching 
election. \ 

While I accept, w-ith deep gratitude, this distinguished honor — 
and distinguished indeed it is — I do so, with a fearful apprehension 
of the responsibility it may eventually bring with it, and with a 
profound conviction that it is the kind confidence of my fellow citi- 
zens, far more than any merit of my own, which has placed me 
thus prominently before the American people. And fortunate 
shall I be, if the confidence should find, in the events of the future, 
a better justification than is furnished by those of the past. 

I have carefully read the resolutions of the Democratic National 
Convention, laying down the platform of our political faith, and I 
adhere to them as firmly; as I approve them cordially. And while 
thus adhering to them, I shall do so with a sacred regard to " the 
principles and compromises of the constitution," and with an earn- 
est desire for their maintenance '• in a spirit of moderation and 
brotherly love, so vitally essential to the perpetuity of the Union, 
and the prosperity and happiness of our common country ; " — a 
feeling which has made us what we are, and which, in humble re- 
liance upon Providence, we may hope is but the beginning of what 
we are to be. If called upon hereafter to render an account of my 
stewardship, in the great trust you desire to commit to me, should 
I be able to shqw that I had truly redeemed the pledges thus pub- 
licly given, and had adhered to the principles of the democratic 
party with as much fidelity and success as have generally marked 
the administration of the eminent men to whom that party has 
hitherto confided the chief executive authority of the government, 
I could prefer no higher claim to the favorable consideration of 
the country, nor to the impartial commendation of history. 

This letter, gentlemen, closes my profession of political faith. 
Eeceiving my first appointment from that pure patriot and great 
expounder of American democracy, Mr. Jefferson, more than forty 
years ago, the interveningperiodof my life has been almost wholly 
passed in the service of my country, and has been marked by ma- 
ny vicissitudes, and attended with many trying circumstances, both 
in peace and war. If my conduct in these situations, and the 



LIFE OE GENERAL CASS. 361 

opinions I have been called upon to express, from time to time, in 
relation to the great party topics of the day, do not furnish a clear 
exposition of my views respecting them, and at the same time a 
sufficient pledge of my faithful adherence to their practical applica- 
tion, whenever and wherever I may be required to act, anything 
further I might now say, would be a mere delusion, unworthy of 
myself and justly offensive to the great party in whose name you 
are now acting. 

My immediate predecessor in the nomination by the democratic 
party, who has since established so many claims to the regard and 
confidence of his country, when announcing, four years ago, his 
acceptance of a similar honor, announced also his determination 
not to be a candidate for re-election. Coinciding with him in his 
views, so well expressed, and so faithfully carried out, I beg leave 
to say, that no circumstances can possibly arise, which would in- 
duce me again to permit my name to be brought forward in con- 
nexion with the chief magistracy of our country. My inclination 
and my sense of duty equally dictate this course. 

No party, gentlemen, had ever higher motives for exertion, than 
has the great democratic party of the United States, With an 
abiding confidence in the rectitude of our principles, with an un- 
shaken reliance upon the energy and wisdom of public opinion, 
and with the success which has crowned the administration of the 
government, when committed to its keeping, (and it has been so 
committed during more than three-fourths of its existence,) what 
has been done, is at once the reward of past exertion and the mo- 
tive for future, and, at the same time, a guarantee for the accom- 
plishment of what we have to do. We cannot conceal from our- 
selves that there is a powerful party in the country, differing from 
us in regard to many of the fundamental principles of our govern- 
ment, and opposed to us in their practical application, which will 
strive as zealously as we shall, to secure the ascendency of their 
principles by securing the election of their candidate in the coming 
contest. The party is composed of our fellow citizens, as deeply 
interested in the prosperity of our common country as we can be, 
and seeking as earnestly as we are, to promote and perpetuate it. 
We shall soon present to the world the sublime spectacle of the 
election of a Chief Magistrate by twenty millions of people, with- 
out a single serious resistance to the laws, or the sacrifice of the 
life of one human being — and this, too, in the absence of all force 
but the moral force of our institutions ; and if we should add to 
all this, an example of mutual respect for the motives of the con- 
tending parties, so that the contest might be carried on with that 
firmness and energy which accompany deep conviction, and with 
as little personal asperity as political divisions permit, we should 
do more for the great cause of human freedom throughout the 
world, than by any other tribute we could render to its value. 

We have a government founded by the will of all, responsible to 
.the power of all, and administered for the good of all. The very 



362 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

first article of the democratic creed teaches that the people are 
competent to govern themselves : it is indeed, rather an axiom than 
an article of political faith. From the days of General Hamilton 
to our days, the party opposed to us, of whose principles he was 
the great exponent, if not the founder — while it has changed its 
name, has preserved essentially its identity of character ; and the . 
doubt then entertained and taught of the capacity of man for self 
government, has excited a marked influence upon its action and 
opinions. Here is the very starting-point of the difference between 
the two great parties which divide our country. All other differ- 
ences are but subordinate and auxiliary to this, and may, in fact, 
be resolved into it. Looking with doubt, upon the issue of self 
government, one party is prone to think the public authority should 
be strengthened, and to fear any change, lest that change might 
weaken the necessary force of the government; while the other, 
strong in its convictions of the intelligence and virtue of the peo- 
ple, believes that original power is safer than delegated, and that 
the solution of the great problem of good government consists in 
governing with the least force, and leaving individual action as 
free from restraint as is compatible with the preservation of the 
social system, thereby securing to each all the freedom which is 
not essential to the well-being of the whole. 

The resolutions referred to by Gen. Cass in his letter and which 
he adopts as the exponent of his political creed, to which he would 
firmly adhere, and which he cordially approves, are the following: 

Resolved, That the American democracy place their trust in the 
intelligence, the patriotism, and the discriminating justice of the 
American people. 

Resolved, That we regard this as a distinctive feature of our 
political creed, which we are proud to maintain before the world 
as the great moral element in a form of government, springing from 
and upheld by the popular will — and we contrast it with the creed 
and practice of federalism, under whatever name or form, which 
seeks to palsy the will of the constituents, and which conceives no 
imposture too monstrous for the popular credulity. 

Resolved, therefore. That, entertaining these views, the demo- 
cratic party of this Union, through their delegates assembled in a 
general convention of the States, coming together in a spirit of 
concord, of devotion to the doctrines, and faith of a free represen- 
tative government, and appealing to their fellow citizens for the 
rectitude of their intentions, renew and re-assert, before the Amer- 
ican people, the declarations of principles avowed by them, when 
on a former occasion, in general convention, they presented their 
candidates for the popular suffrages : — 

1. That the federal government is one of limited powers, de- 
rived solely from the constitution, and the grants or power shown 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 363 

I 

therein ought to be strictly construed by all the departments and 
agents of the government, and that it is inexpedient and dangerous 
to exercise doubtful constitutional powers. 

2. That the constitution does not confer upon the general gov- 
ernment the power to commence and carry on a general system of 
internal improvements. 

3. That the constitution does not confer authority upon the fed- 
eral government, directly or indirectly, to assume the debts of the 
several States, contracted for local internal improvements, or oth- 
er State purposes, nor would such assumption be just and expe- 
dient. 

4; That justice and sound policy forbid the federal government 
to foster one branch of industry to the detriment of another, or to 
cherish the interests of one portion to the injury of another por- 
tion of our common country ; that every citizen, and every sec- 
tion of the country has a right to demand and insist upon an equal- 
ity of rights and priveleges, and to complete and ample protection 
of persons and property from domestic violence or foreign aggres- 
sions. 

5. That it is the duty of every branch of the government to en- 
force and practice the most rigid economy in conducting our pub- 
lic affairs, and that no more revenue ought to be raised than is 
required to defray the necessary expenses of the government, and 
for the gradual but certain extinction of the debt created by the 
prosecution of a just and necessary war, after peaceful relations 
shall have been restored. 

6. That Congress has no power to charter a national bank ; that 
we believe such an institution one of deadly hostility to the best 
interests of the country, dangerous to our Republican institutions 
and the liberties of the people, and calculated to place the busi- 
ness of the country within the control of a concentrated money pow- 
er, and above the laws and the will of the people ; and that the re- 
sult of democratic legislation, in this and all other financial mea- 
sures upon which issues have been made between the two political 
parties of the country, have demonstrated to candid and practical 
men of all parties, their soundness, safety and utility in all busi- 
ness pursuits. 

7. That Congress has no power under the constitution to inter- 
fere with or control the domestic institutions of the several States, 
and that such States are the sole and proper judges of everything 
in their own affairs, not prohibited by the constitution ; that all 
efforts of the abolitionists or others made to induce Congress to in- 
terfere with questions of slavery, or to take incipient steps in rela- 
tion thereto, .are calculated to lead to the most alarming and dan- 
gerous consequences ; and that all such efforts have an inevitable 
tendency to diminish the happiness of the people, and endanger 
the stability and permanence of the Union, and ought not to be 
countenanced by any friend of our political institutions. 

S. That the separation of the monies of the government from 



364 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

banking institutions is indispensable for the safety of the funds of 
the government and the rights of the people. 

9. That the liberal principles embodied by Jefferson in the De- 
claration of Independence, and sanctioned in the constitution, 
which makes ouj-s the land of liberty, and the asylum of the op- 
pressed of every nation, have ever been cardinal principles in the 
democratic faith ; and every attempt to abridge the present privi- 
lege of becoming citizens and the owners of soil among us, ought 
to be resisted with the same spirit which swept the alien and sedi- 
tion laws from our statute books. 

The doctrines of these resolutions have been sanctioned by sev- 
eral successive national democratic conventions, and are the basis 
of the organization of the democratic party of the union. The 
principles inculcated in some of them have been, since their pro- 
mulgation, incorporated in the laws of our country. 

Gen. Cass on accepting the nomination tendered to him, resign- 
ed his seat in the senate of the United States, as Senator of the 
State of Michigan, and returned to his residence in Detroit. His 
route was one continued scene of greeting and welcome, the spon- 
taneous offering of a people, of their heartfelt and enthusiastic ad- 
miration of his conduct as a public man. Having on every proper 
occasion, declared without equivocation or reservation, his politi- 
cal principles, he determined to await in the retirement of his 
home, the decision of his fellow-citizens of the Republic, in the 
great contest then approaching. 

The Presidental campaign of 1848 will long be remembered as 
the most exciting contest that has taken place in our country. The 
question of abolishing slavery had become by the artifices and in- 
trigues of wily politicians involved with the question of admitting 
new territories under the protection of our constitution and laws, 
A party organized itself upon the basis of non admission of any 
new territories, unless the restriction imposed by the " Wilmot 
Proviso" was incorporated in the act of admission. No doubt a 
large number of those who advocated the doctrine of the Proviso, 
were honest in their intentions of putting a limit to the extension 
of slavery, and of confining it within the boundaries where it then 
existed, but there were men, who stimulated the advocacy of this 
doctrine, and encouraged the organization of a party founded upon 
it alone, who were not sincere in the position they assumed direct- 
ly upon the principle of the proviso. The personal friends of a 



LIFE OF GENESAL CASS 365 

distinguished man, who had been elevated by the democracy to the 
highest office in their gift, conceived that latterly, the democratic 
party had not done justice to his claims upon their further support, 
by refusing to re-nominate him for the Presidency after his defeat 
in 1840, resolved that the democratic party of the union, should 
feel the mark of their displeasure. To promote their object, they 
seized upon the Proviso, and having constructed upon it an orga- 
nization separate and distinct from the two great parties, invited 
all whom disaffection, disappointment, or selfish ambition actuated, 
to join their standard. A convention was held at the city of Utica 
in the State of New Yoxk, in the summer of 1848, at which Martin 
Van Buren was nominated for President. He accepted this nom- 
ination, although conscious that by so doing he would desert the 
standard of principle he had supported through a life of distin- 
guished public service, and might place in perilous danger the 
party which for so many years had honored him with their confi- 
dence. Subsequently to this convention, a general meeting of this 
newly organized political faction was held at Buffalo, New York. 
It was composed of the disaffected of the democratic and whig 
parties, and the abolitionists. The result of the convention, 
after much disagreement, was the ratification of Mr. Van Buren's 
nomination at Utica, and the nomination of Charles F. Adams, of 
Boston, for Vice-President. The latter gentleman, a son of 
John Quincy Adams, and an hereditary opposer of demoiracy in 
every form, was thus placed by the side of one whose pure 
democracy never was questioned until the disorganizing con- 
duct of his personal friends, in connection with the selection 
of delegates to the Baltimore Convention of 1848, awaken- 
ed the suspicion that " New York's favorite son " bore rankling 
in his bosom, in the peaceful quietude of Lindenwald, an inveter- 
ate resentment against the democratic party. What rendered the 
course of Mr. Van Buren more reprehensible than it otherwise 
might have been, and confirmed the opinion that private griefs had 
very much to do with his acceptance of the Utica nomination, was 
the incontrovertible fact, that the doctrines in regard to slavery, 
promulgated by the convention of 1848, and cordially supported by 
Gen. Cass, were identical in every respect with those promulgated 
by the convention of 1840, which nominated Mr. Van Buren as 



366 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

the democratic candidate for President. And more than this. 
The resolutions declaring the sentiments of the Convention of 
1840, were previous to its session, prepared by the late Hon. Silas 
Wright and submitted to Mr. Van Buren for examination. . He 
not only approved of them, generally, but suggested, as appears by 
a letter of the late Gov. Hill of New Hampshire, that the resolu- 
tion relating to the slavery question, should be pointed and unequi- 
vocal : and upon his suggestion the concluding clause of that 
resolution was added to the draft, viz : — " That all efforts of the 
abolitionists or others made to induce Congress to interfere with 
questions of slavery, or to take incipient steps in relation thereto, 
are calculated to lead to the most alarming and dangerous conse- 
quences ; and that all such efforts have an inevitable tendency to 
diminish the happiness of the people, and endanger the stability 
and permanency of the Union, and ought not to be countenanced 
by any friend of our political institutions." 

In Mr. Van Buren's inaugural address, he further sanctioned 
the doctrine of the convention, by asserting that he " must go into 
the Presidential chair the inflexible and uncompromising opponent 
of every attempt on the part of Congress, to abolish slavery in the 
District of Columbia against the wishes of the slaveholding States. 
"It now only remains for me," said he, "to add, that no bill con- 
flicting with these views, can ever receive my constitutional sanc- 
tion." 

The platform of doctrine upon which the democratic party of 
1840 with Mr. Van Buren stood, the platform of 1844 with Mr. 
Polk, and the platform of 1848, with Gen. Cass, were precisely 
identical in all those things, which Mr. Van Buren and his friends 
supported in 1840, and repudiated in 1848. If the doctrines were 
sound in 1840, when Mr. Van Buren pledged himself to their sup- 
port under all circumstances, what other motive could he have in 
1848 to oppose and denounce them, than the sole and personal one 
of chagrin and disappointment, because the democracy wished to 
transfer a portion of their confidence to other eminent men, and 
afford him the opportunity to enjoy that retirement and repose, 
which his years and public services entitled him to. 

The regular opponent of Gen. Cass for the Presidency, was 
Gen. Zachary Taylor, nominated by a convention of the Whig 



LIFE OP GENERAL CASS. 367 

party, held at Philadelphia in June, 1S48. The military achieve- 
ments of Gen. Taylor in the war with Mexico, had won for him a 
high place in the affections of the people. He was brought for- 
ward by his friends as a candidate for the Presidency at an early 
day. He was not connected with any political party, nor were his 
opinions on any of the leading measures generally known. Let- 
ters from individuals, in different parts of the Union, reached him 
in his camp on the battle field, soliciting him to declare himself a 
candidate for President. To these letters Gen. Taylor replied, 
expressing himself ready to receive the votes of any of his fellow 
citizens who were disposed to sustain him. The Democratic party 
had chosen their candidate, and were therefore not to be classed 
among the supporters of Gen. Taylor. The Whig party were 
alone his reliance for a nomination and support, yet he would not, 
nor did he from the time his name was first mentioned in connec_ 
tion with the Presidency, to the day of his nomination, commit 
himself to the support of any of the principles by which that party 
was characterized. 

By the time the Philadelphia convention assembled, the leaders 
of the Whig party, convinced that the elements of discord had 
fairly begun to work among the Democratic ranks, and having first 
in view, as paramount to all else, the defeat of Gen. Cass, they 
determined that it would be better to go before the people with a 
candidate who could not be charged with having supported Whig 
principles, than one who had been identified with them. Besides, 
Gen. Taylor had declared that, whether nominated or not, he 
would not withdraw his claims to the confidence of his fellow citi- 
zens. Hence he was nominated by the convention, and placed 
before the people for their support, on the ground of his military 
glory and success. The convention neither adopted resolutions 
nor an address, but silently hoisted the flag of Gen. Taylor and 
adjourned. 

The convention having made no declaration of principle, and 
its candidate, Gen. Taylor, being equally non-committal, the con- 
test assumed a new character, solely one of opposition to the de- 
mocratic nominee and the party which sustained him. Thus eve- 
ry element of opposition could unite in aid of the one controlling 
object. No principle being at issue for them to contend for, no 



368 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

matter how greatly they might differ as party men, they could fight 
shoulder to shoulder on the platform of oppositio7i which a combi- 
nation of circumstances had erected for them. It was thus amid 
unprecedented excitement and partisan spirit that the contest was 
carried on. No means, fair or foul, were left unused, to defeat 
Gen. Cass. The Whig party, really, did not care whether Gen. 
Taylor was elected or not, so long as Gen. Cass was defeated. 
That party would have hailed the election of Mr. Van Buren as a 
triumph of their own. No event in the political world would, at 
any time, so exasperate the politicians of the Whig party as the 
election of Gen. Cass to the Presidency. With such determined 
and unscrupulous opponents, it was a matter of no great surprise 
that the Democratic party was not successful in 1848. A course 
of political warfare, until then unknown in party tactics, was 
adopted — a disregard of every honorable principle which had ever 
before governed the contest of parties for power. The political 
opinions of Gen. Cass were misrepresented in every manner, the 
skill and ingenuity of his opponents could devise ; his private 
character was slandered, and acts of his life, which are generally 
considered as conferring honor, and worthy of respect, were turn- 
ed against him, and distorted into weapons of injury. 

The aggregate vote polled at the election of 1848, for Cass, 
Taylor, and Van Buren, was 2,872,000, of which Gen. Cass re- 
ceived 1,219,962; Gen. Taylor 1,360,752, and Mr. Van Buren 
291,342. Mr. Van Buren undoubtedly received a sufficient num- 
ber of democratic votes in the free States to turn the scale in favor 
of Gen. Taylor. By this influence the States of New York and 
Pennsylvania, in reality Democratic by a large majority, were 
made to cast their electoral vote for the Whig candidate, giving 
him sixty-two votes in the electoral college. Taking into conside- 
ration the vote cast for Van Buren, Gen. Cass received a very 
large majority of the votes of the people, over Gen. Taylor, but 
the majoiity against him in two of the largest States of the Union, 
having the greatest electoral vote, gave the preponderance to Gen. 
Taylor. 

It is not the purpose of this work to enter at length into a dis- 
cussion of the political principles of any party. To mention in 
outline the general features which marked the Presidential election 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 369 

of 1848, is deemed sufficient to convey to the reader a correct 
idea of the position of the Democratic candidate in that contest. 
The Democratic party, it is true, were defeated, but not on the 
ground of their principles or of their candidate. They were sat- 
isfied of their correctness — were not discouraged by the result — 
and maintained without diminution their confidence in and attach- 
ment for their candidate. 



24 



CHAPTER XVII 

Effects of defeat in 184.8 — Increased confidence of the people in the political 
viewsof Gen. Cass — He is re-elected to the Senate — First session of the thirty- 
first Congress — Importance of the questions before it — The feeling of the south 
— Course of ultra politicians — Efforts of Compromise — Propositions of Messrs. 
Clay and Boll — Mr. Foote's Resolution — Gen. Cass' remarks — Remarks in re- 
ply to Mr. Berrien — Report and Bill of committee of thirteen — Amendments to 
the bill — Opposition to the admission of California — Remarks of Gen. Cass — 
The " Fugitive Slave ■'' bill — Suggestions of Gen. Cass in relation to it — Com- 
promise measures — Their effects — Efforts of Gen. Cass and other eminent men 
to create a sound state of feeling in regard to slavery — His remarks at a public 
meeting in the city of New York — Extract from his letter to the Democratic 
Union festival, at Baltimore — His action on the slavery question approved by 
the people — Repeal of Resolutions of Instruction by the Legislature of Michi- 
igan — Unanimous re-election of Gen. Cass by the Legislature of Michigan, in 
February, 1851. 

The defeat of the democratic party, in 1848, was the means of 
causing a salutary change in the views of many prominent and in- 
fluential men, who, in that contest, had either supported with in- 
difference or openly opposed the majority of their political friends. 
An examination of the real position of the democratic candidate, 
tested by cool and dispassionate reason, and confirmed by results, 
convinced them, that the standard he had raised was the right one 
for the safety and interests of the country. Investigation produced 
conviction, and conviction confidence in the purity of the national 
doctrine, upon which Gen. Cass had staked his reputation as a 
statesman, and his success as a candidate for the Presidency. This 
confidence was exhibited by the general wish of the democratic 
party that Gen. Cass should be re-elected to the Senate to fill the 
unexpired portion of his original term of six years. The legisla- 
ture of Michigan, of 1849, obeyed the voice of their constituents, 
and their political friends elsewhere, and Gen. Cass resumed his 
seat in the Senate of the United States. 

The first session of the thirty-first Congress, in 1849 and 1850, 
was peculiar for the exciting and important character of the pro- 
positions brought before it. The south had for years complained 
of infringement by the north upon their rights as members of the 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 371 

Union — not only in commercial matters, but in the more domestic 
and peculiar institutions existing among them. The course pur- 
sued by ultra politicians of both north and south, had its effect in 
fomenting a state of feeling, which daily increased in bitterness 
and exasperation. The wise statesmen of the land endeavored to 
avert the evil which they foresaw would inevitably befall the Union,, 
if the discord and dissension between the north and the south were 
not removed. Em.inent men, from both sections, united in devis- 
ing measures calculated to allay the irritation. Several methods 
of compromise were brought forward, and debated most ably and 
arduously, through a session of eight months. Messrs. Clay, Foote 
and Bell severally proposed terms of compromise and adjustment 
of the questions in controversy between the free and slave States, 
connected with the subject of slavery. The propositions of Messrs. 
Clay and Bell, were embraced in a series of resolutions which elic- 
ited much discussion. Mr. Foote simply introduced a resolution^" 
to the effect, that it was the duty of Congress, at that session, to- 
establish suitable territorial governments, for California, Deseret, 
and New Mexico. Gen. Cass supported this resolution, and, as 
Mr. Hale, of New Hampshire, had intimated that he should move 
the application of the Wilmot Proviso to the resolution, thus bring- 
ing up again that vexed point for discussion, Gen. Cass availed 
himself of the opportunity to express his views upon its constitu- 
tionality and expediency. Opening his argument with a prelim- 
inary remark upon the abstract character of the resolution, and 
arguing that Congress had not unlimited power of legislation over 
the territories ; and drawing a distinction between the right to in- 
stitute governments for territories, and the right to legislate over 

their internal concerns, he said : — 

******* 

There is no clause in the constitution which gives to Congress 
express power to pass any law ri^specting slavery in the territories. 
The authority is deduced from various sources, which I propose 
to examine by-and-by. But every construction which would give 
to a foreign legislature jurisdiction over this subject of slavery — by 
foreign I mean not elected by the people to be affected by its acts, 
nor responsible to them — would equally give it jurisdiction over 
every other department of life, social and political, in the territo- 
ries : over the relations of husband and wife, of parent and child, 
of guardian and ward, as well as over the relations of master and 
servant ; and embracing, within the sphere of its operations, the 



372 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

whole circle of human rights, personal and political — life, liberty, 
and property in all their various modes of enjoyment. I say " the 
power of Congress over slavery ;" for, if we have power to abolish 
it, or to exclude it, we have power to institute it. We possess 
complete jurisdiction over the subject ; for there is no intellect, 
however acute, which can so limit the legislative right of action, 
if it exist at all, as to apply it to the exclusion of slavery, and with- 
hold it from its institution. If any one doubts this proposition, let 
him turn to the Constitution and show the limitation. Before I 
can believe that such a power was granted, so remote from the ob- 
jectsof the government which the framers of the constitution sought 
to establish, belonging exclusively to the local questions affecting 
the different communities into which we are divided, I must aban- 
don many of the illusions I have cherished respecting the wisdom 

of the statesmen who composed the Convention of 1787. 

******* 

Reverting to the proposition that Congress has unlimited pow- 
er of legislation over the territories, the first reflection which strikes 
the inquirer, is, that if this power were intended to be granted, no- 
thing was more easy than for the Convention to place the subject 
beyond doubt by a plain expression of the object. Instead, then, 
of five or six clauses of the constitution, some with remote relation 
to the subject, and some with none at all, which are in succession 
relied upon as the foundation of this power, we should have had a 
clear authority for the exercise of one of the highest attributes of 
government; the highest, indeed, the right of unlimited legisla- 
tion. The clause most frequently quoted in support of this right 
is that which provides that " Congress shall have power to dispose 
of, and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the ter- 
ritory or other property belonging to the United States." But I 
have no hesitation in saying, that if general jurisdiction over life 
and liberty was intended to be granted by this provision, its phrase- 
ology is little creditable to the person who prepared it or to the body 
which adopted it. Heretofore the universal judgment of our coun- 
try has pronounced that the Constitution of the United States is 
not less admirable for the force and perspicuity of its language than 
for the principles it establishes and the government it instituted. 
Proper words in proper places have been till now the characteris- 
tic feature of its mode of expression. But if the power to make 
needful rules and regulations for the property of the United States 
— for this is the grant, and all the grant — conveys full legislative 
authority over this property and over all persons living in the same 
region of country, making man the mere incident of property, cer- 
tainly never were words more unhappily chosen, nor a reputation 
for clearness and certainly more unju&tly acquired. That the con- 
vention, when they intended to grant full legislative power, knew 
what terms to employ, is manifest from the phraseology of the provis- 
ion for the government of the Federal District, and of places ceded 
*' for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock-yards, and 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS, 



373 



other needful buildings.*' Here the right to exercise exclusive 
legislation is given in express terms, admitting no doubt, and the 
very words are employed which are best adapted to convey the 
power intended to be granted, and no other power. When, there- 
fore, a construction i s put upon the authority to make needful 
rules and rcgulalionsfor property, which carries it far beyond the 
obvious import of the words, those assuming this ground are bound 
to explain why similar language was not used to grant similar pow- 
ers, and by what j ust rule of implication a phrase so limited is made 
to convey a power so unlimited. How is it that, in the same in- 
strument, to exercise exclusive legislation and to regulate jjroperty 
convey equally a general jurisdiction over all the objects of human 
concern ? No man has done this. No man has attempted to do 
it ; and it is an obstacle, in limine, which, till removed, is insup- 
erable. 

I have looked over the discussions on this subject with a view 
to ascertain whence this power is derived by the various speakers 
or writers who have taken part in this controversy, and it is not a 
little curious to analyze the different opinions, and to find what 
diversity of sentiment prevails respecting the true ground of Con- 
gressional interposition. There seems to be a sort of consentane- 
ous admission that the power exists, but then comes the diversity 
of views when seeking to justify its exercise by the provisions of 
the Constitution. 

The principal reliance, till recently, for the support of this gen- 
eral power of legislation has been upon that clause of the Consti- 
tution already quoted, which authorizes Congress to " dispose of, 
and make all needful rules and regulations respecting, the territo- 
ry or other property belonging to the United States." More re- 
cently, however, as the subject has been investigated, this clause 
has found less favor, and other provisions have in succession been 

brought forward as justifying Congressional interposition. 

'^ * * * * * * * 

Much of the confusion which accompanies this subject has ob- 
viously arisen from the use we now make of the word " territory,'' 
applying it to those political communities which are organized un- 
der the name of Territorial Governments, and considering it as so 
applied in the Constitution. Indeed, so prevalent is this notion 
that, in an address of the Democratic members of the Legislature 
of New York, dated in April, 1848, this clause is quoted as though 
it read territories or " other property belonging to the United 
States;'" thus fixing upon the word its acquired political significa- 
tion. And this example has been followed in the House of Repre- 
sentatives, where one of the most intelligent members says, " the 
Constitution speaks of territories belonging to the United States." 
This use came by time, for the ordinance of 1787 obviously em- 
ployed the word territory as descriptive of a region of country be- 
longing to the United States, and which had been ceded to them 
by the members of the Confederacy. The " western territory" 



374 LIFE OK GENERAL CASS. 

was its popular designation, and it is thus called in an act of the 
old Congress passed May 20, 1785, entitled " An ordinance for 
ascertaining the mode of disposing of lands in the ivcstern territo- 
ry." The meaning is here geographical, and not political ; for no 
government was established there till more than two years after 
this period. And the proceedings of the old Congress abound with 
its use in that signification, proofs of which will be found in an act 
of April 13, [785, in another of May 9, 1787, and yet another of 
May 13, of the same year, all before the passage of the ordinance 
for the government of the northwestern territory. Then came that 
ordinance providing for the government of this region of country, 
this territory, or land, or domain, as it is indiscriminately called 
in the legislative and other official acts of that period. Its more 
appropriate political designation seems to have been " district," 
for the ordinance commences by declaring " that the said territory, 
[or region of country,] for the purposes of government, shall be one 
district, subject, however, to be divided into two districts, as fu- 
ture circumstances may, in the opinion of Congress, make it expe- 
dient." And these districts were each to constitute a government, 
with a governor and judges to " reside in the district," who are 
to " adopt and publish laws in the district," and eventually, with 
a partially elective legislature, having authority " to make laws in 
all cases for the good government of tlie district," &:c. 

The territory or region of country is thus organized into a po- 
litical district ; and had these local communities, which we now 
call Territories, preserved this term district as descriptive of their 
political organization, or been knov.n as Colonies, the English de- 
signation for remote possessions, we should probably never have 
heard of the extended construction now given to this power of ma- 
king needful rules for territory/ or land, and other proper iij. As 
in the Ordinance, so in the Constitution, both adopted in the same 
year, the word territory retains its geographical signification, and 
it was only by time and custom that it sometimes came to mean 
political communities, distinct from the geographical region where 
these are established. But this use of the term, I repeat, was un- 
known at the time of the adoption of the Constitution. 

What, then, is the true import of this constitutional power, to 
iTiake needful rules and regulations for the public property ? If 
this were a question of the first impression, and a construction 
were now to be put upon this clause unembarrassed by practice or 
precedent, it is so clear in its phraseology and objects, that it is 
not probable there would be any diversity of opinion upon the sub- 
ject. It would be conceded that it gave to Congress power to dis- 
pose of, use, and preserve the public property, wherever situated, 
and to exercise any power fairly "needful" to attam these objects. 
The slightest analysis establishes this construction. It is property 
alone which is the subject of the grant ; and its disposition, and 
in connection with that, its use and preservation, are the objects. 
The frame of the sentence places this beyond doubt. The phrase 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 



375 



^'territory or other property," makes territory one of the classes of 
property, and was doubtless here introduced as far the most impor- 
tant of them, being the Western Terr itori/, the greixt hnd destined 
to relieve the finances of the infant Confederation. He who de- 
nies this, is beyond the reach of philological reasoning. 

* * * *- *- 

Now, it is manifest that if the power to make needful rules and 
regulations conveys a general grant of legislative authority, then 
the express clause for the exercise of jurisdiction with the consent 
of the States was unnecessary, and the Government of the United 
States, wherever it owns property, possesses by the act of owner- 
ship complete legislative jurisdiction within its limits. 

For it is to be observed that this power "to dispose of and make 
needful rules and regulations," attaches to the public property 
whether found in the States or Territories, and is the only autho- 
rity by which the public lands, wherever situated, are sold. And, 
■consequently, the people living thereon, are subject to Congress- 
ional legislation, and may be placed beyond the reach of State au- 
thorities. Either this consequence follows, or the very same words, 
operating upon the very same subject, convey powers altogether 
different. 

It is under this authority that our whole system of land laws has 
been established ; that land has been surveyed and sold, trespasses 
prevented or punished, intrusions prohibited, and the proceeds of 
the national domain realized and carried to the national treasury. 
The laws for these purposes are general in their operation, not ap- 
plicable to the Territories alone, but embracing in their action 
those portions of all the States where this kind of property exists. 
And these laws, passed by virtue of this clause relating to the 
public property, cease to operate as soon as the United States cease 
to own such "property. If a tract of land, wherever situated, 
whether within a State or Territory, is paid for and sold, all the 
provisions for the security of the United States, arising out of this 
special clause of the Constitution disappears at once, and the tract 
passes into the common mass of property, subject to all the usual 
incidents, and governed only l^ the usual local laws. 

But it is yet strenuously contended, though certainly not with 
the same earnestness of conviction which marked the earlier dis- 
cussions of this subject, that the natural and obvious import of this 
clause, giving Congress power to make needful rules and regula- 
tions for theimhlic property, is not the true one, but that it gives 
complete legislative jurisdiction over the property itself, and over 
all the persons living within the Territories of the United States. 
And why 1 I have examined with some care the long debates up- 
on this subject, and I find there are two different views taken of 
this clause, both of which unite in the same conclusion, but sepa- 
rate in the process by which it is reached. Those who advocate 
the one, contend that the word "territory" does not mean land 
alone, but includes also political jurisdiction : thus making Ameri- 



376 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

can citizens a part of the national property, which Congress may 
"dispose of," or otherwise regulate at its pleasure. The advocates 
of the other, who certainly bring to this discussion greater num- 
bers, as well as higher talents and position, while conceding that 
the word "territory" in this connection means land, maintain that 
the right to make needful rules and regulations concerning it, ne- 
cessarily conveys unlimited powers of legislation over such proper-/ 
ty, as well as over the political communities, called Territories, 

where it is to be found. 

***** 

If the word "territory" here includes the right of jurisdiction, 
it follows that it was the intention of the framers of the Constitu- 
tion to confer upon Congress the power to sell this jurisdiction over 
all the western cessions, and that this clause accomplishes the ob- 
ject. For, whatever be the true meaning of the word "territory," 
whether soil or dominion, or both, the authority granted is an au- 
thority to dispose of or sell it, equally with "other property." No 
process of analysis can separate the right to sell the "territory" 
from the right to sell the "other property." Congress, by this 
construction, could sell to every man the right of jurisdiction over 
his section or quarter section, as well as the right of soil ; or it 
could sell the title to one man, and the jurisdiction to another, or 
both, or either to a foreign State, or to its subjects. The bare 
enunciation of such a proposition carries with it its own refuta- 
tion. I cannot deal with it as a subject of argumentation. The 
power, under any circumstances, to cede a portion of the United 
States is, to say the least ot it, a very doubtful one under our Con- 
stitution. For myself, I can find no such grant of authority in that 
instrument. Its powers are preservative, not destructive. I am 
speaking of a direct unquestioned cession ; not of the fair settle- 
ment of a disputed boundary with a foreign nation, where the ques- 
tion is uncertain, and where the act of adjustment establishes the 
true line of demarcation. But that the Convention of 1787 should 
make it a fundamental provision of the new Government that it 
might alienate from this country, at its pleasure, and by the acre, 
too, its vast western domain, the object of so much solicitude and 
the cause of so many dissensions, "almost terminating in separa- 
tion, is a proposition equally at variance with our political history 
and with the spirit of our political institutions. And what still 
adds to the surprise which this course of reasoning is so well cal- 
culated to excite, is the fact that gentlemen who seek by construc- 
tion to give to Congress this unlimited power of cession are among 
those who contend most strenuously for the obligation and inviola- 
bility of the ordinance of 1787, and for its virtual recognition by 
the Constitution ; notwithstanding that ordinance places the west- 
ern territory beyond any other final disposition than that of ad- 
mission into the Union, with all the rights of the original members. 

The other construction, which deduces a new power of unlimi- 
ted jurisdiction from this constitutional authority "to dispose of 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 



377 



and make needful rules and regulations concerning the territory 
or other property belonging to the United States," concedes that 
territory is here land and property, but maintains that the needful 
regulation of it includes complete jurisdiction — not only the pow- 
er to establish territorial governments, but to legislate for the ter- 
ritories in all cases whatsoever. 

* * * * * 

I have already referred to what the Supreme Court said in ano- 
ther case ; but I renew the reference for a different purpose, and 
extend the quotation to show whence this power, in the opinion of 
the Court, is derived. 

" The term ' territory,' as here used, is merely descriptive of 
one kind of property, (says the Court,) and is equivalent to the 
word lands ; and Congress has the same power over it as over any 
other property belonging to the United States ; and this power is 
vested in Congress without limitation, and has been roaxidered (a 
cautious expression, by-the-by) the foundation upon which the ter- 
ritorial governments rested." And they refer to a preceding opin- 
ion, where the Chief Justice, speaking of this article, and the pow- 
ers growing out of it, applies it to the territorial governments, and 
says, "all admit their constitutionality." And again : Florida, 
while a territory, was " governed by that clause of the constitution 
which empowers Congress to make all needful rules and regula- 
tions respecting the territory or other property belonging to the 
United States." The word "territory," the Court says, " is here 
synonymous with land." Using the synonyme, the phrase will sub- 
stantially read thus: Congress shall have jjoiocr to dispose of and 
make needful rules and regulations concerning the land (f the 
United States. And we are asked to believe that this guarded 
clause conveys complete jurisdiction, full power of legislation over 
the land itself, for all purposes, and over the individuals or commu- 
nities, not only living upon it, while public property, but living up- 
on it after it ceases to belong to the United States, and also upon 
those livino- in the same region. We have seen it laid down that 
this power is "plenary," and that rules and regulations concerning 
land, necessarily confer "complete jurisdiction" over land and 
men also. 

We can well understand that a power to sell the land of the Uni- 
ted States, and to make needful laws concerning it, gives the right 
of legislation for all purposes fairly connected with the use and 
sale of that kind of property, and necessary to these objects. The 
right to survey it, to convey it, to improve it, to protect it, and to 
use the various means properly required therefor ; for these purpo- 
ses concern the land, and the laws operate upon individuals in re- 
lation to their purchases, and upon all others who interfere with 
the rights of property in the United States. But how does a mur- 
der concern the land ? or a marriage ? or a note of hand? or any 
of the infinite variety of acts which pass between individuals in 
civilized communities ? And if they do not, whence comes the 



378 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

Congressional power of legislation, by which such acts are to be 
commanded, or prohibited, or punished ? The Supreme Court 
indeed says that the power of Congress is without limitation ; but 
the Constitution says it is not. The Constitution says, in the first 
place, that it must be needful ; and, in the next place, that it must 
concern the land ; and both of these injunctions are limitations, 
and guarded ones, too, upon the exercise of legislative power. 
Needful, not for all purposes ; not for general jurisdiction ; but for 
the objects of the grant of power, which concern the land, and 

cannot be separated from it. 

# * * * * 

The second argument urged in support of the authority of Con- 
gress to legislate over the Territories is derived fro:)i the war and 
treaty-making power, which bring with them as an incident the 
right of acquisition, and this is followed by the right of legislating 
over the country acquired. Besides many speakers who have ad- 
vocated this doctrine in debate, and a majority perhaps have done 
so, there are eminent authorities who avow the same opinion, and 
whose views are entitled to great consideration. 

The effect of the war-making power upon the right of acquisi- 
tion is, under our Constitution, an inquiry purely speculative, as 
no territory has ever been added to the Union by that process. 
Though thi3 principle is thus broadly laid down, yet it is rather 
difficult to conceive how the mere act of war, thouorh it bring con- 
quest with it, can permanently annex a foreign country to the Uni- 
ted States Vv'ithout the interposition of some department of the Gov- 
ernment constitutionally competent to indicate the national will on 
the subject ; and if this be so, the war-making power cannot be said 
to make the acquisition, or, in other words, the annexation, though 
it may afford t!ie opportunity of its being made. The act of con- 
quest and the act of annexation are, in such a state of things, as 
different in their character as in their operation. A treaty of peace 
confirming the conquest, and making the cession, carries the ques- 
tion to the treaty-making power. What course will be pursued 
to declare or to secure annexation, in the very improbable event 
of the conquest of a foreign country by the United States, with the 
determination of the Government utterly to subdue it, and to des- 
troy its political organization, so that no authority could exist to 
give its assent to the terms proposed by the conqueror, is a case 
so little likely to happen as scarcely to deserve a place, even as a 

subject of speculation, in an elementary treatise. 

******** * * 

Another assumed ground for the exercise of this power is the 
ricrht to admit new States. 

" The purpose," [of the right of government,] says a member 
of this body, " is to train up a nation of freemen, and to fit them 
to share in the privileges of this Union. Whatever is necessary 
to this object Congress is authorized to do."' — Mr. Berrien, vol. 1, 
p. 875. 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 370 

For myself, sir, I take it that the reason for the exercise of this 
power of government by Congress, is simply that the Territories 
may be governed, and not left without political organization, and 
as there are no means provided for the institution of a government 
by the people of a territory, Congress has interfered to attain that 

object. 

-* * # * * * * * * * 

If the right to admit new States gives the right to acquire terri- 
tory before it becomes a State, with a view to its government by 
Congress, in order that it may be admitted into the Union, it seems 
to me many other constitutional powers of Congress would equally 
justify foreign acquisitions, in order that these powers might be 
exercised over them. Because you can admit new States, there- 
fore you can acquire territory wherein to form them. Because 
you can lay and collect taxes, &/C., therefore you can acquire ter- 
ritory where they may be levied and collected. I am speaking, as 
Judge Johnson was speaking, of the incidental and not of the di- 
rect power of Congress. The direct power of admission makes no 
distinction between foreign and domestic States, and therefore 
sanctioned the annexation of Texas. But, if Texas had been a 
colonial possession, and we had sought to acquire it before its ad- 
mission, we must have found some other provision of the Consti- 
tution than this, to justify such action. In the one case the act of 
admitting is the exercise of a direct power ; in the other, the act of 
acquiring is for the purpose of admission, and is, therefore, an in- 
cident which precedes, if I may so speak, instead of following, the 
power to which it is incidental. The derivative operates first, not 
as a means to aid the operation of the principal, but to call the 
principal into existence, by furnishing the subject, without which 
it could not be exercised. This ijropositlon is not in the book of 
the Constitution, nor justified by its spirit or objects. 

4. The right to sell. 

5. The right of ownership. 

6. The right or duty of settlement. 

Each of these rights is assumed and advocated as a justification 
for the exercise of " complete jurisdiction" over the Territories ; 
and I place them together because they bear a new relation to one 
another. 

I have sought in vain, in the earlier opinions of the courts and 
in the views of the commentators on the Constitution, any support 
of the doctrine that the rights of sale or of ownership necessarily 
carry with them unlimited jurisdiction over the country to which 
they are attached. It is one of the discoveries which we owe to 
this prolific controversy, and has been urged with a good deal of 
zeal both here and at the other end of the Capitol. 

But sir, this assumption of necessary action which claims for 
Congress the right of entire legislation over the Territories, is met 
and refuted by the fact that Congress from 1787 to this day, has 
never exercised any such power, and, therefore, its exercise is not 



380 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

necessary in order to dispose of the public land. I have already 
adverted to the great difference, both in principle and practice, 
between the right to organize governments and the right to exer- 
cise full legislative jurisdiction, endeavoring to show that whatever 
justification, whether from necessity or construction, there may be 
for the former, there can be none for the latter. I have remarked 
that in the various speeches, decisions, and essays, which touch 
this general question, there is no established distinction preserved 
between the exercise of these powers, the one or the other being 
often referred to in convertible terms ; and one of our ablest mem- 
bers thus states the question : 

" Has Congress the right, under the Constitution, to legislate for the 
territory of the United States, organize governments for the inhabitants 
residing therein, and regulate within it all matters of local and domestic 
concern.' I believe this question [not questions, the speaker evidently 
considering the power as one and the same] can be satisfactorily answer- 
ed in the t^ffirmative." — Mr. Dix, lol. 1, p. 862. 

And yet it is very clear that the preservation of legal order being 
the object to be attained, as a constitutional justification for the 
action of Congress, if this has been attained without the exercise 
of the power to regulate "all matters of local and domestic con- 
cern, ' then the fact is decidedly shown that such general power is 
not necessary to the sale of the public land, such land having al- 
ways been sold without it. The Territorial Governments, have in 
all cases conducted the internal affairs of the Territories ; and not 
one single instance of legislation by Congress can be produced, 
providing for the punishment of offences in the Territories, except, 
indeed, in those cases arising out of its peculiar jurisdiction, con- 
ferred by the Constitution, and which applies equally to them and 
to the States. That peace and good order, which gentlemen con- 
sider so essential to the sale of the public land, have been preser- 
ved by Territorial, and not by Congressional legislation. I repeat 
emphatically, that not a single exception to this proposition is to 
be found in the statute-book. There are, indeed, some half dozen 
provisions concerning civil rights, which have no relation to the 
fair power of establishing a government, but belong to the internal 
domestic affairs of the people themselves, which may be found in 
the ordinance of 1787, and in the subsequent action of Congress, 
But waiving, for the present, the objection in principle to their 
introduction, and granting that Congress knew what was for the 
benefit of the people better than they did for themselves, and that 
these instances for their interference were wise, and wisely con- 
ducted, still no man will contend that they were necessary to the 
preservation of order, or that the attainment of that object alone 

justified their introduction. 

***** 

The provision of the Constitution which declares that " all debts 
and engagements entered into before the adoption of the Constitu- 
tion shall be as valid against the United States, under this Consti- 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 381 

tution, as under the Confederation," has been relied upon as gran- 
ting or establishing the power to exercise complete political juris- 
diction over the Territories. 
The argument is thus urged : 

"That ordinance, then, [the ordinance of 1787,] was a compact, an en- 
gagement, a contract, between the people of the United States, in their 
collective capacity, and the people who should inhabit this new territory." 
— Mr. Murphy, vol. 1, p. G80. 

A compact is a constitutional engagement. This ordinance, 
therefore, is rendered valid, so far as regards the Territorial gov- 
ernment of 1787, "and this express acknowledgment of this com- 
pact by Congress, after the adoption of the new Constitution, as 
well as the recognition of it by the Constitution, made it binding, 
ratified'it, and cured it of any unconstitutionality under the Con- 
federation which, it might previously have been obnoxious to.'' — 
(Same, p. 680.) 

So far as respects the "express acknowledgment of this compact 
by Congress, after the adoption of the new Constitution," as I know 
nothing, I have nothing to say. It has no place in this discussion. 
The acknowledgment of Congress, even if any were to be found, 
could not chancre the constitutional nature of this territorial " com- 
pact," as it is called. Its validity must be tested by the Constitu- 
tion itself, and not by Congressional acknowledgments. Territory 
since acquired (the speaker contends) may be governed in conse- 
quence of the right of acquisition, while all the region embracing 
Alabama, Mississippi, and Tenessee, is a casus omissus, for which 
the Constitution provides no power of government ; for I have al- 
ready remarked that the cessions of the States could not enlarge 
the powers of Congress. 

What I have to say upon this subject I shall say very briefly. 
In the first place it is clear to me, from the words and the context 
and, I may add, from the evident object in view, that the clause 
respecting " debts contracted and the engagements entered into " 
has no relation to the exercise of political power. 

In the next place^ the whole argument is founded upon a palpa- 
ble error, which the most cursory examination should have detected. 
The territorial government, established by the ordinance of 1787, 
was no compact. It assumes no such characteristic in that instru- 
ment, though this error has been so general that one ef the most 
distinguished members of this body speaks of the ordinance " as 
assuming the form of a compact.'' It assumes to be merely an or- 
dinary act of legislation, " ordained by the United States in Con- 
gress assembled," agreeably to the formula then in use. The local 
government is organized, with all the provisions which concern it, 
in eleven sections or divisions, which occupy two-thirds of the or- 
dinance, and it would have been perfectly absurd to declare these 
temporary arrangements " a compact between the original States 
* and the people and States in the said territory, and forever unal- 
' terable, unless by common consent." Why, they have been al- 



382 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

tered time and again by Congress, without the slightest opposition, 
and no voice has ever been raised to object to these alterations on 
account of this inviolability. The judges were at first appointed 
during good behavior. This tenure was afterwards reduced to ^ 
three years. The legislative council were to be elected by Con- 
gress from a list containing double the necessary number, nomina- 
ted by the House of Representatives. This eventually gave way 
to a popular election. The governor at first had the appointment 
of all officers, but the concurrence of the legislative council in his 
nomination was afterwards required. The delegate to Congress 
was elected by the Legislature. This election was subsequently 
given to the people. These changes, and there are many more in 
the several governments, upon which the ordinance of 1787 oper- 
ated, are enough to show that they were considered within the 
control of Congressional authority, protected by no character of 
inviolability. 

But it is all idle to talk about the compacts in the ordinance of 
1787. The articles so designated are destitute of the very first 
elements of reciprocal obligation. There was but one party to 
them. The other party had not yet come into being, or, rather, 
the other party was not heard at all ; for it was composed of the 
inhabitants then living in the Territory — the settlers upon the 
Wabash, in the Illinois country, in the Detroit country, at Green 
Bay, and at Prairie du Chien. These constituted the counter party 
then in existence, and this compact was declared binding upon 
them and their descendants, and irrevocably so, without their con- 
sent and without their knowledge. Why, sir, if there had been 
but one man in that country — and there were many thousands, and 
among these not a few emigrants from the States — he would not 
have been bound by a compact he never heard of, and to which 
his consent was never required, either expressly or impliedly, and 
much less the people then there. As to making a contract with 
unborn States and millions, by the simple act of a foreign body, 
constituting itself one of the parties, and acting for the other, and 
without any means being provided for procuring their assent in all 
time, either by the act of the then existing or of any future gene- 
ration, by an acceptance of the terms held out, or by any other 
mode, had not our own ears told us the contrary, we might well 
have doubted whether a man could be found to contend for so 
strange a doctrine. 

Besides the want of parties, there was a total want of power. 
No man with any regard to himself, looking to the articles of the 
old Confederation, can deny this, even if we had not the authori- 
tative declaration of Mr. Madison, when speaking of it as a ques- 
tion neither disputed nor disputable, to which Mr. Adams assents. 
The articles are utterly silent on the point, and the exercise of the 
power was an open assumption of authority. If the "engage- 
ment,"' .supposing there to have been one, wanted validity, the 
Constitution gave it none, but left it as it found it. A member of 



LIFE OF GB:NERAL CASS. 



383 



the other House, whose zeal certainly outstripped his discretion 
when he said, in quoting his previous opinions, that " he had ego- 
tism enough to believe his as good as any other authority," and in 
doing so " that he but followed the examples of the courts in 
which it was the regular and every-day practice to cite their own 
decisions," declared also, quite ex cathedra, that " he should be 
able to show, &c., that these six articles of the ordinance were 
for ever binding, unless altered by mutual consent, and that no 
one in Indiana had ever been ' silly enough ' to doubt the validity 
of the ordinance," (Mr. Pettit, vol. 1, p. 718.) It is not the va- 
lidity of the ordinance we are now seeking as an ordinary act of 
legislation, but its inviolability or perpetual obligation. The speak- 
er confounds two propositions entirely different in their nature. 
Let me ask him if any one in Indiana ever doubted the power of 
the people of that State to assemble in convention, and to intro- 
duce slavery there if they please ? — to abolish the English com- 
mon law, and substitute the Code Napoleon, or the Louisiana code, 
or even the contume de Paris, which at one time was the law of a 
part of Indiana, or nature of bail for offences, or find a better 
remedy for the preservation of personal liberty than the writ of 
habeas corpus 1 — all which are declared by the ordinance to be 
forever unalterable, but by common consent, or, in other words, 
they are questions of internal policy, which the people are not 
sovereign enough to touch without the consent of Congress I 
had supposed, till now, that the new States were admitted into the 
Union on " an equal footing with the original States, in all respects 
whatever." But if this doctrine of the perpetual obligation of 
this ordinance be correct, the new States and the old States oc- 
cupy very different positions in the Union, and the powers of the 
latter are much greater than those of the former. As a citizen of 
the Northwest, I object toto ccelo to this humiliating difference, 
and I doubt if the gentleman will find many converts to his opin- 
ion in his own State. 

In support of his views, he asks where the United States got 
the title of the public lands, but in one of the provisions of this 
" compact," which prohibits the new States from any interference 
in their disposition. Why, sir, the United States got the title of 
the public lands from the deeds of cession of the States, who 
owned them, and Congress got the power to sell and control them, 
not from the ordinance, which, as we have seen by the opinion of 
Mr. Madison, and which may be seen at any time by a reference 
to the Articles of Confederation, was valueless for tliat purpose; 
but from the constitntional authority to make " all the needful 
rules and regulations" respecting them, which was introduced to 
secure this very object. 

There can be no doubt, sir, that this form of a compact was 
given to these important articles of the ordinance, in the absence 
of all real power over the subject, as having somewhat the appear- 
ance of a mutual arrangement, and therefore obnoxious to less 



384 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

censure than a direct assumption of authority would have been. 
The first ordinance, (for that of 1787 is the second,) the ordinance 
of April 23, 1784, which, however, was repealed by the other be- 
fore it went into operation, contained also this declared compact, 
but in a much more imposing form than it afterwards assumed. 
It provided, that " the foregoing articles shall be formed into a 
charter of compact, shall be duly executed by the President of the 
United States in Congress assembled, under his hand and the seal 
of the United States, shall be promulgated, and shall stand as fun- 
damental constitutions." &c., &c. I presume this pushing com- 
pacts into constitutions for the new Stales by the sole authority of 
Congress was afterwards thought to be going a little too far, and 
the more modest form was finally adopted. 

It is a singular commentary on the positive declarations of the 
inviolability of this ordinance, that at the very time they were aiade, 
an act of Congress was passed, almost without opposition, viola- 
tine this ordinance in a fundamental particular. And we have 
been told by the chairman of the judiciary committee of the sen- 
ate, that although the question was raised before the committee, 
four of the members out of five considered it of no weight, and 
the bill passed this body without even a discussion upon it. Among 
the articles of compact was one which provided that there should 
not be less than three nor more than five States in the Northwest 
Territory. This power had been exhausted, and the five States 
admitted into the Union. But a large portion of the territory has 
been detached from these States, and now forms part of the Min- 
nesota Territory, to be organized into a separate State, or to form 
part of another, with the country west of the Mississippi. So much 

for the irrepealable articles of compact. 

***** 

Now, sir, as to the congressional precedents. But, before I pro- 
ceed to consider them, permit me to make a quotation from the val- 
uable work of an able and accomplished jurist, and most worthy 
man, the late Chancellor Kent. How an expositor of our Consti- 
tution could maintain the existence of a legislative right by the 
mere exercise of a legislative power, as I know not, I shall not at- 
tempt to explain. It is another proof that if we have not fallen on 
evil times, we have fallen on strange ones. 

"It would seem from the various congressional regulations of 
the territories belonging to the United States, that Congress have 
supreme power, and the government of them, depending upon their 
sound discretion." 

So much for the statute book, instead of the constitution. 

But, sir, let us look at these congressional regulations. Fifteen 
territorial governments have been organized since the adoption of 
the constitution, differing in detail, but with one general principle 
pervading them, not rigidly adhered to, indeed, but sufficiently 
marked to show that it was the guiding feature of legislation — the 
riwht of the local governments to conduct the mternal affairs of 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 3S5 

their respective Territories. This series of legislation certainly 
proves, as Judge Marshall says, the possession of the power, and 
that its e.\ercise has been necessary ; but it leaves its origin to be 
sought elsewhere, in the will of the people, expressed in the char- 
ter of their government, or in the very necessity of the case. 

I have said the "local governments," but I do not mean by that 
expression that in the earlier ages of territorial political history, 
these governments were controlled as much as they should have 
been by the people. They were not ; for a very unjustifiable sys- 
tem was introduced — that of authorizing the governor and judges 
to pass laws by adopting them, and, of course, with many changes 
from the laws of the original States. No one would be now 
found hardy enough to propose such a plan ; it is among the things 
that have been. It preserved, indeed, the distinction between the 
general and the local governments ; but it confounded all the just 
divisions of power, and in principle annihilated every vestige of 
popular right. It was a mere act of arbitrary power. 

No man can turn over the original articles of confederation, 
without being sensible that Mr. Madison was right when he said 
that in assuming the administration of the public lands, and ma- 
king them productive, and in erecting temporary governments over 
the Territories, Congress had acted without the least color of con- 
stitutional authority. 

From one end to the other of that instrument there is not a sin- 
gle grant of power which, directly or indirectly, looks to such ob- 
jects. The whole was a mere assumption, justified only, as Mr. 
Madison says, by the "public interest, the necessity of the case, 
which imposed on them the task of overleaping their constitutional 
limits." A gentleman, now no longer here, who investigated this 
subject, as he did all others, with great care, has supposed that, as 
Mr. Madison stated the defects of the confederation, and the ne- 
cessity of supplying them by a new government, this consideration 
leads almost irresistibly to the conclusion that he viewed the pro- 
vision respecting "rules and regulations" as the foundation of po- 
litical jurisdiction. — (Mr. Dix, vol. 1,86:3.) This is not so, sir. 
The old Conjrress did these things without color of authority — 
erected temporary governments, provided for the admission of new 
States, and assumed the administration and sales of the public 
lands. The former was a power spent — it had performed its office. 
The political organization embraced all the territory then held by 
the United States ; and it is not at all probable, though the gene- 
ral provisions were doubtless known, that the details of the ordi- 
nance were ever critically examined by the convention, who were 
occupied by subjects then vastly more important to them ; though, 
indeed, a member of the House suggests that, as the convention 
and the old Congress sat at the same place, there was probably a 
conference, at which the ordinance, or some of its subjects, were 
discussed and mutually arranged. The convention sat at Phila- 
delphia, and the Congress at New- York ; and thus falls this con- 



t 
386 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

jecture, built upon a supposed coincidence of time and place. And 
thus it happened that there is no reference whatever to this ordi- 
nance to be found in the constitution, either directly or indirectly, 
nor any provision for the institution of temporary governments, the 
necessity for such a case not being foreseen — the power having 
been acted upon and spent. 

But the admission of new States was provided for, being obvi- 
ously a power that Congress would be called on to exercise ; un- 
less, indeed, this new doctrine, that the ordinance was among those 
"debts and engagements" which the constitution declared should 
continue valid ; for, in that case, new States could have been ad- 
milted upon the original pledge, and any other grant of authority 
was unnecessary. 

And the administration, too, of the public laws could not be car- 
ried on without the action of the new Congress, exercised almost 
from day to day ; and the necessary authority for this purpose was 
provided by the power to dispose of the public property and to re- 
gulate it. 

And here the constitution stops, leaving the right to establish 
temporary governments unprovided, the power having been exer- 
cised de facto, and no other territory remaining; not because the 
subject was not examined ; but because it was examined and judg- 
ed unnecessary*, as is proved by the rejection of the following pro- 
position 'in the convention declaring that Congress should be 
clothed with power "to institute temporary governments for the 

new States arising therein." 

***** 

Why, then, have Congress exercised the power of governing the 
Territories? and why has their action been submitted to in the 
absence of any constitutional authority ? Let the remarks of Mr. 
Madison, on the assumption of the same power by the Congress of 
the confederation, and in which he participated, give the only an- 
swer that can be given to the question : "All this has been done," 
he says in the Federalist — that is, governments have been organ- 
ized, fcc, "without the least color of constitutional authority." 
He adds that he imputes no blame to Congress, because they could 
not have done otherwise. "The public interest, the necessity of 
the case, imposed on them the task of overleaping their constitu- 
tional authority." As I have already remarked, sir, there are clear 
indications, in the opinions of Judge Marshall afid of Judge Story, 
that this "necessity of the case," or "inevitable consequence," was 
in their view, one of the grounds of justification for the action of 
Congress upon this subject, since the adoption of the constitution. 
"Perhaps," says the former, "the power of governing a Territory, 
&c., may result necessarily from the fact that it is not within the 
jurisdiction of any particular State, and is within the power of the 
United States." The latter adopts the same idea when he says, 
" it must consequently be under the dominion and jurisdiction of 
the Union, ui it would be without any government at all." This 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 



387 



condition of things imposes the moral necessity to which both the 
Congress of the confederation and the Congress of the constitution 
have yielded. Now, sir, I am as far as Mr. Madison was from 
seeking to justify political action by the oft repeated plea of neces- 
sity. It has no place in a constitutional code. It is a mere as- 
sumption, and nothing more nor less. But when such a case hap- 
pens, they incur the responsibility who yield to the necessity, and 
must throw themselves upon the country for their justification. If 
supported by public sentiment, they are safe; if not, they and their 
measures mu; t fall together. Certainly it is the moral duty of any 
country, holding distant possessions, to institute governments for 
the preservation of social order. And here, and here alone, is the 
foundation of the power of government as exercised by Congress. 
It was assumed to preserve social order in distant regions ; and 
had it been confined to its proper purpose, the institution of gov- 
ernments without interfering in the internal concerns of the peo- 
ple to be governed, it would everywhere have gone on to its proper 
consummation, the establishment of State government, without ha- 
ving its validity called in question. There were at first no pecu- 
liar circumstances to call public attention to the k\\ violations of 
the great principle of self-government, which these organic laws 
contained, and, with one exception, these interferences were for 
the assertion of great well known principles, founded in the En- 
glish law, and adopted into ours, and were thus the less likely to 
provoke investigation into the validity of their origin. All the 
Territories have been governed upon this general principle of Con- 
gressional jurisdiction, leaving to the people to be affected by them 
the pass ge of laws suited to their condition — a principle not only 
safe in itself, but familiar to every American, as being the very 
condition claimed by our revolutionary fathers, when they com- 
menced their discussions with England. The violations of it were 
few — different in different organic laws, and unnecessary in all — 
and when pointed out to the public attention, by the circumstances 
of the times, were strenuously objected to, as justified neither by 
law or necessity, and therefore deriving no sanction from prece- 
ding legislation. 

Upon this subject of territorial government. Congress began 
right, and it is diffic\ilt to ascertain why they afterwards admitted 
modifications at war with the true principles of safe legislation. 
The original ordinance of April 2*3, 1784, the predecessor of the 
ordinance of 1787, provided that the "settlers on any territory so 
purchased" might, on application, receive authority from Congress 
to meet together and establish temporary governments, &i^c. 

Now, sir, among all the other reasons given for the exercise of 
legislation by Congress over the territories, there is but one which 
derives it from an express grant of power in the constitution, and 
that grant is found in the authority to dispose of and make rules 
and regulations for the public property. I put the proposition 
thus, because it is thus put by the supreme court. If this clause 



38S LlfE OF GENERAL CASS. 

contain within itself" complete jurisdiction" and '• plenary pow- 
ers" of legislation over all persons living on the public property, 
but till it becomes a State of this Union, then the Wilmot proviso 
is constitutional, and, as a member from the \vest says, " this gov- 
ernment could sell the territories into slavery." 

If, on the other hand, the power of superior legislation is deduced 
as an auxiliary to some other Congressional power, or to some at- 
tribute, or what not, then its exercise is limited by the circamstan- 
ces to which it owes its origin. All the clauses in the Constitu- 
tion, and all the clauses out of the Constitution, which have been 
referred to as the foundation of this power, require its exercise 
solely as the means of insuring law and order to the public terri- 
tory.' That power, as Mr. Madison says, is in " suspension of the 
great principle of self-government, and ought not to be extended 
further nor continued longer than the occasion might fairly re- 
quire " 

And yet this principle of limitation, so obvious, and so obviously 
just, is considered by an eminent lawyer in the Senate as absurd. 
He cannot, he says, conceive a gr enter hundle of absurdities than 
a proposition that a territorial legislature may exercise local pow- 
ers which Congress cannot. Well, sir, those of us, credulously 
inclined, find ourselves in pretty good company, which furnishes 
some relief to our self-love thus sensibly wounded. Mr. Madison's 
opinion I have just quoted, and I will quote another, which car- 
ried some iveight with it once, though now it seems a good deal 
out of fashion, and has even become an absurdity. It is to be 
found in the declaration of the Continental Congress of 1774, and 
thus reads : The English colonists " are entitled to a free and ex- 
clusive power of legislation in their several provincial legislatures, 
where their right of representation can alone be preserved in alt 

cases of taxation and internal polity," &c. 

^ * * * * * * 

The power, whatever it is, comes from the people of the United 
States. And here is precisely the root of the error which leads to 
all these metaphysical subtleties. What the Constitution permits 
Congress may do, and nothing more. If the Constitution permits 
it to institute governments for the territories, and withholds the 
right to interfere in their internal concerns, while the former may 
be exercised, the latter must be avoided, and all the scholastic re- 
finements of the olden or of the latter times cannot change, in one 
jot or tittle, this fundamental proposition. This new political ax- 
iom will hardly supersede the Constitution. Congress assumes the 
right to authorize the people of the territories to meet in conven- 
tion to form constitutions and State governments. In like man- 
ner it assumes the right to authorize the people of the territories 
to exercise many of the privileges of self-government. And its 
power to do this must be tried, not by its power to do a great deal 
more, but by the great charter, the fountain of its authority. 
Whether this difference in fact exists between the power of gov- 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 389 

ernment and the power of internal legislation under the principles 

of the constitution, is precisely one of the branches of the inquiry 

before us. 

******* 

And this brings me to the nature of this congressional legisla- 
tion, and its effect upon the people of the territories. Does it en- 
able them to exercise a portion of their natural rights, by provid- 
ing for the organization of their government, as the acts of Con- 
gress passed for the purpose enable them to elect their convention, 
and form a state constitution ? or does it confer upon them these 
rights, as well as the means of enjoying them ? Do they belong 
to Congress first, and are they then doled out to the people as far 
and as fast as may suit the Congressional temper, or as some pas- 
sing political struggle may permit? Had it not been for the les- 
son which this discussion has taught us, I should not have sup- 
posed there was a mgn in this broad republic who was not willing 
merely, but anxious to render to CsesTr the things that are Ca?sar's 
— to attribute to the people the things that belong to them. But 
it is not so. The doctrines we have heard advanced upon this 
subject are precisely those which are at war with human freedom, 
in Europe, and which have achieved a temporary triumph in Hun- 
gary, in Italy, and in Germany ; and they are maintained and il- 
lustrated by the same, or by kindred arguments and observations. 
We are sovereign ; thcrejore we have the right to legislate over 
the territories in all cases whatsoever. The major includes the mi- 
nor ; therefore wc, the greater, have unlimited legislation over the 
less. There can he no half sovereignty ; therefore the territories 
have no rights. Congress is made to confer a power it docs not 
possess, and thence it follows that these unfortunate communities 
may he sold into slavery, and so on to the end of the chapter^ 
from Poland to Oregon. And human rights are thus frittered away 
and sacrificed, not to constitutional principles, but to metaphysi- 
cal refinements which might almost provoke the envy of the Stagy- 
rite himself, and of the whole peripatetic school he founded. And 
in a similar spirit it is clearly proved that, as one man does not 
make a people, we must show by some demonstration how many 
it takes for that purpose, and how far apart they must reside to 
make two people ; or it is vain to talk of their rights or their 
wrongs, or to secure the one or redress the other. He who under- 
takes to apply the square and the compass to human rights, natu- 
ral or political, will find he is dealing with a subject beyond his 
reach, and which has eluded many a mightier grasp than his own. 
And we are asked, where did the people of the Territories get 
the right to legislate for themselves? Where did they get it? 
They got it from Almighty God ; and from the same omnipotent 
and beneficent Being who gave us our rights, and who gave to our 
fathers the power and the will to assert and maintain them. 

I am not speaking of a revolution. This is a just remedy for 
violated rights. But I am speaking of a right inherent in every 



390 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

■community — that of having a share in making the laws which are 
to govern them, and of which nothing but despotic power can de- 
prive them. That power in Europe is the sword. Here political 
metaphysics come to take its place. The people of the Territories 
get the opportunity of enjoying this right of government, of bring- 
ing it into practical operation, from Congressional interposition, 
and they then possess it with no other limitations than those arising 
out of the Constitution and of their relations to the United States. 
Their powers of legislation embrace all the subjects belonging to 
the social condition. There is no act of Congress respecting any 
of the territories which undertakes to enumerate the various objects 
of legislation, and then to confer jurisdiction over them. The 
whole power is conveyed, with the very few exceptions I have sta^s 
ted, and these are expressly withheld. The only one, indeed, I 
now recollect, though I do not speak positively, except general 
provisions .for the security of private rights, is the unconstitutional 
clause prohibiting slavery : and it follows, from these views, that 
the territorial legislatures possess full authority over all the con- 
cerns of life ; over the relations of husband and wife, of parent and 
child, of guardian and ward, and, if the interposition of Congress 
is unconstitutional, over the relations of master and servant, inclu- 
ding the condition of slavery. Hence, then, the objection we have 
so often heard repeated, that these legislatures cannot act upon 
this subject, because Congress, having no power itself, can grant 
none for that purpose, is destitute of any real foundation. If, in- 
deed, there is any constitutional prohibition, direct or fairly implied, 
which opposes their exercise of this power, then of course it is 
withheld from them. As that question is not in my way, I shall 
not turn aside to seek it, but shall content myself with saying that 
I see no such prohibition, and that I believe the people of the 
Territories have just the same rights in this respect that the peo- 
ple of the States have; and that it is a part of their power of 
legislation, of which they cannot justly be deprived. Let him who 
seeks to deprive them of it turn to our great charter, and put his 
finger upon the restriction. 

But, sir, I may well appeal to those who find in the Constitution, 
or out of the Constitution this power to control the Territories by 
the Wilmot proviso, whether it is a power that ought to be exer- 
cised under existing circumstances. 

Here is one-half of a great country which believes with a una- 
nimity perhaps without a parallel in grave national questions, that 
the Constitution has delegated to Congress no such power what- 
ever. And there is a large portion of the other half which enter- 
tains similar views : while of those who see in the Constitution 
sufficient grounds for legislative action, there are many who admit, 
indeed probably there are few who deny, that the question is not 
free from serious doubts 

Besides the want of constitutional power, there are at least four- 
teen States of the Union which see in this measure a direct attack 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 391 

upon their rights, and a disregard of their feelings and interests, 
as injurious in itself as it is offensive to their pride of character, 
and incompatible with the existence of those bonds of amity which 
are stronger than constitutional ties to hold us together. No man 
can shut his eyes to the excitement which prevails there, and which 
is borne to us by the press in countless articles coming from legis- 
lative proceedings, from popular assemblies, and from all the sour- 
ces whence public opinion is derived, and be insensible to the evil 
day that is upon us. I believe this Union will survive all the dan- 
gers with which it may be menaced, however trying the circum- 
stances in which it may be placed. I believe it is not destined to 
perish till long after it shall have fulfilled the great mission confi- 
ded to it of example and eocouragemerit to the nations of the earth 
who are struggling with the despotism of centuries, and groping 
their way in a darkness once impenetrable, but where the light of 
knowledge and freedom is beginning to disperse the gloom. But 
to maintain this proud position, this integrity of political existence, 
on which so much for us and for the world depends, we must care- 
fully avoid those sectional questions so much and so forcibly depre- 
cated by the Father of his Country, and cultivate a spirit of mutual 
regard, adding to the considerations of interest which hold us to- 
gether the higher motives of affection and of affinity of views and 
of sympathies. Sad will be the day when the first drop of blood 
is shed in the preservation of this Union. That day need never 
come, and never will come, if the same spirit of compromise and 
of concession by each to the feelings of all which animated our 
fathers continues to animate us and our children. But if powers 
offensive to one portion of the country, and of doubtful obligation, 
to say the least of it, are to be exercised by another, and under 
circumstances of peculiar excitement, this Confederation may be 
rent in twain, leaving another example of that judical blindness 
with which God in his providence s-ometimes visits the sins of na- 
tions. 

Now, sir, as a mere practical question, is the legislative adop- 
tion of this proviso worth the hazard at which it alone can be se- 
cured — the obstacles and dangers I have briefly alluded to? There 
should be great advantages, inestimable indeed, to be gained be- 
fore such a measure is forced upon the country. Can any man 
say that they correspond at all with the magnitude of the evils 
which must follow in their train 1 

For myself, sir, I do no( believe that the slightest good will re- 
sult, or would result, under the most favorable circumstances, from 
this Congressional interference with the rights of the people of 
the Territories. The object avowed is to prevent the introduction 
of slavery. Can it go there, even if left without this prohibition? 
I believe it cannot ; and I believe there are very few, here or else- 
where, who think it can. 

This view of the subject I had occasion to announce some two 
years since, together with the considerations, political and geo- 



392 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

graphical, which led to the opinion. Time and experience have 
come to confirm all that was then anticipated, though certainly 
sooner and in a more imposing form than could then have been 
even conjectured. By far the most valuable portion of our Mexi- 
can acquisitions has organized a State government, and will, it is 
understood, soon present itself for admission, with a fundamental 
prohibition against the existence of slavery. Looking at the con- 
dition of New Mexico, at its products, its geographical position, 
the character of its inhabitants, whether natives or emicrrants, and 
to the legal fact that slavery is now excluded from all that region, 
I think the most zealous advocate of this prohibition must admit 
that without it the country is as sure to be free from slavery as 
with it. For myself, I do not believe that if you were to pass a 
law establishing slavery in the Santa Fe country, or in Deseret, to 
adopt the new nomenclature, it would ever go there. More pow- 
erful considerations than your legislative action would control this 
question — considerations of profit, arising out of products which 
can alone render this kind of labor valuable, and which is sure to 
arrest it, in the cotton-growing and sugar-making regions, instead 
of permitting its emigration to higher latitudes, whose products 
require less labor, and by their distance from market must always 
be cheap and abundant. 

I refer to these circumstances, not as influencing my own ac- 
tion, for with my views of the constitutional defect of power, I am 
precluded from entering into any other considerations ; but as ap- 
pealing to those who, finding the necessary authority, seek to ex- 
ert it, in order to prevent the introduction of slavery into the new 
acquisitions. Nor have we any right to anticipate that this view, 
however correct it may be, will reconcile the South to abandon 
their objection to this measure. All experience shows that a con- 
troversy like this, which has reached its present condition, under 
circumstances so imposing, where great questions of right and of 
feeling are involved, is maintained without reference to its utilita- 
rian result. And there is no better illustration of this truth than 
the history of our own revolutionary struggle presents; where the 
principle itself, far more than its immediate practical application, 
roused a continent to arms. 

The Wilmot proviso is urged upon the ground of its expedien- 
cy. It is opposed upon the ground of its unconstitutionality. 
Those who urge it may well abandon it, when circumstances show 
that the measure is dangerous in itself, or profitless in its result. 
Those who oppose it cannot change their conviction of riffht, and 
that portion of the Union which considers itself peculiarly affected 
by it will not change the conviction that its feelings and interests 
will be sacrificed in violation of the great compact which makes 
us one political family. 

Now, sir, I repeat, is the contest worth the cost? To place this 
barren, and, as I believe, unconstitutional proviso on the statute- 
book — is that a recompense for the wounds that would be inflicted, 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 393 

and the feelings that would be excited, whose disastrous effects no 
right-minded man can contemplate without the most serious ap- 
prehension .' The oldest among us may live to see their commence- 
ment, the youngest may not live to see their termination. For my- 
self, I will take part in no such effort. I will minister to no such 
feelinor. I will engage in no such crusade against the South, from 
whatever motives ii originates. I will endeavor to discharge my 
duty as an American Senator, to the country and to the whole 
country, agreeably to the conviction of my own duty and of the 
obligations of the Constitution ; and when 1 cannot do this, I shall 
cease to have any duty here to perform. My sentiments upon the 
Wilmot proviso are now before the Senate, and will soon be before 
my constituents and the country. I am precluded from voting in 
conformity with them. I have been instructed by the Legislature 
of Michigan to vote in favor of this measure. I am a believer in 
the right of instruction, when fairly exercised and under proper 
circumstances. There are limitations upon this exercise ; but 1 
need not seek to ascertain their extent or application, for they do 
not concern my present position. I acknowledge the obligation 
of the instructions I have received, and cannot act in opposition to 
them. Nor can I act in opposition to my own convictions of the 
true meaning of the Constitution. When the time comes, and I 
am required to vote upon this measure, as a practical one, in a bill 
providing for a territorial government, I shall know how to recon- 
cile my duty to the Legislature with my duty to myself, by surren- 
dering a trust I can no longer fulfill. 

On the 25th of February, Mr. Foote moved the Senate that his 
resolution should be referred to a committee of six members from 
the north, and six members from the south, and one to be by 
them chosen, with instructions to exert themselves for the purpose 
of maturing a scheme of compromise for the adjustment of all 
the pending questions growing out of the institution of slavery, 
and to report by bill or otherwise. Gen. Cass supported this reso- 
lution, and also the subsequent proposition to refer the resolutions 
of Messrs. Clay and Bell to a like committee. He viewed the 
course proposed by Mr. Foote as offering one more opportunity of 
terminating the fearful controversy. He declared that he would 
vote for any measure that had the appearance of bringing the 
country into harmony upon the distracting subject of slavery. The 
question of reference was put to a vote on the l&tli of April, and 
carried by a vote of thirty to twenty-two. 

The committee to which this reference was made, was chosen 
by the Senate by ballot, and consisted of Messrs. Clay, Cass, Dick- 
inson, Bright, Webster, Phelps, Cooper, King, Mason, Downs, 



394 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

Mangum, Bell, and Berrien. On the 8th of May, the committee, 
by their chairman, made their report to the Senate, accompanying 
it with bills in accordance with their report. 

The views and recommendations of the committee were in sub- 
stance — First : That the admission of any new State or States, 
formed out of Texas, should be postponed until they present them- 
selves for admission. Second : That California should be admit- ^ 
ted forthwith, with the boundaries she had proposed. Third ; 
That territorial governments, without the Wilmot proviso, should 
be provided for New Mexico and Utah, embracing all the territory 
acquired from Mexico, except that embraced within the bounda- 
ries of California. Fourth : The establishment of the northern 
and western boundary of Texas, and the exclusion from her juris- 
diction of all New Mexico, for which a pecuniary equivalent was 
to be paid. Fifth: More effectual enactments of law to secure 
the prompt recapture of fugitives from labor, bound to service in 
one State, who may have escaped into another State. Sixth : 
That Congress should abstain from abolishing sb-^very in the Dis- 
trict of Columbia, but should prohibit the slave trade within the 
District. The committee also proposed that the second, third and 
fourth measures should be contained in the same bill. 

The bill providing for the admission of California, the establish- 
ment of territorial governments for Utah and New Mexico, and 
making proposals to Texas in regard to her boundaries, elicited 
much and able discussion for and against it. The union of so 
many subjects in one bill, created objections against it in the minds 
of some, who, otherwise, would doubtless have supported it ; nor 
did its provisions entirely accord with the views of even those 
most disposed to support any reasonable measure calculated to heal 
the differences existing, and soften the asperities of sectional feel- 
ing ; much less did it harmonize with the designs of the ultraists 
of north or south. A great number of amendments were offered, 
conforming the bill to the views of those who offered them. Pro- 
positions, increasing the conditions upon which California might 
be admitted, and restricting the powers of territorial governments, 
were offered. These Gen. Cass opposed, as well as the clause in 
the bill itself restricting those powers. He had assumed and ever 
maintained that the people living in territories, possessed the right 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 



395 



to regulate their internal concerns in their own way, subject of 
course to the limitations of the constitution. Upon the right of 
Congress to establish territorial governments, Gen Cass reiterated 
his opinions as set forth in the "Nicholson" Igtter. He argued 
that there was no express authority conferred upon Congress, by 
the constitution, to establish and regulate territorial governments 
The absence of such grant was, because no contingency was fore- 
seen by the framers of -the constitution for the use of such power. 
The riffht to act at all, arises from the necessity of the case. Up- 
on the acquisition of new territory, it is the moral duty of a coun- 
try to take care that it is provided with a government suitable to 
iis own institutions ; the exercise of this power is only justified by 
necessity. 

The opinion of Gen, Cass on this branch of congressional pow- 
er, was, during the debate on the compromise bill, the subject of 
reference by most of the distinguished men who were opposed to 
his position. In reply to an allusion made to his doctrines, by Mr. 
Berrien of Georgia, at a later period in the debate, Gen. Cass fur- 
ther defended his opinion in a short and powerful speech of unan- 
swerable argument A brief extract is here inserted. 

" Mr. President : The Senator from Georgia, at the commence- 
ment of his remarks, made an allusion to the doctrine I have main- 
tained in relation to the general power of Congress over the terri- 
tories. I rise to put myself right — not to defend others from the 
charge implied in the assertion, that I am the only man in the 
Senate, and almost the only citizen out of it, who does not believe 
that this Government has full and unlimited power over these ter- 
ritories ; though I trust there are many, both here and elsewhere, 
who have not so far forgotten the faith of their fathers, as to ac- 
quiesce in such a monstrous assumption of arbitrary power. Why, 
it is the very doctrine, and almost the very words, of the declara- 
tory act of George III, which our fathers resisted successfully — 
first in argument, and then in arms — that his Majesty in Par- 
liament HAS THE RIGHT, BY STATUTE, TO BIND THE COLONIES IN 

ALL CASES WHATSOEVER. We wcut to war against this very as- 
sumption, invoking the great right of self-government, and hallow- 
ed the principle we fought for by success, and made it the very 
corner-stone of our institutions. And now, before all the genera- 
tion of the men of the Revolution has passed away, we are called 
upon to declare that our majesty (this government) in Congress 
has the right, hy statute, to hind the Territories in all cases what- 
soever. And I am rather pointed at as a marked man, and as al- 
most the only one, who, in this middle of the nineteenth century, 



396 LI^'E OF GENERAL CASS. 

and in this republican land, does not bow the knee to this political 
worship. I trust — I am sure, indeed — that the Senator entirely 
misunderstands the sentiments of his countrymen, and that there 
is not a mere remnant, but a vast majority, who repudiate such 
pretensions, and \fho believe that internal legislation, without rep- 
resentation or natural affinity, is the very essence of arbitrary 
power. And a tremendous power it is. It is claimed and exer- 
cised at St. Petersburg, at Vienna, and at Constantinople, as well 
as at Washington ; and no matter by whom claimed, or where ex- 
ercised — whether by Sultan, Emperor, King, Parliament, or Con- 
gress — it is equally despotism, unsupported by the laws of God, 
or by the just laws of man. Whence do you derive such a pow- 
er? Put your finger upon a single clause or word of the Consti- 
tution, if you can, which gives it to you. Such a terrible means 
of oppression should not rest on shadowy implications, or remote 
analogies, or on elementary words, employed by European writers. 
It should have a visible, tangible foundation. It should be written 
in characters of living light, that the oppressor and the oppressed 
may not be deceived as to the power of the one, or the degrada- 
tion of the other. And yet among the fifteen reasons given for 
the exercise of this authority, there is not one, which, by any ra- 
tional construction, leads to such consequences. Fifteen reasons 
for the support of a power, which half that number of words would 
have conferred beyond cavil or dispute ! That very fact is enough 
to destroy the pretension. Congress shall have unlimited j^ower 
over the Territories. This short and explicit clause would have 
spared us many an argument, even if it had not spared the rights 
of man. Instead of such a declaration, what is the fact? The 
Senator from Georgia says, that Congress is sovereign. This I 
utterly deny. Congress is vested with no attribute of sovereignty, 
as the foundation of legislative power, nor is the word itself to be 
found in the Constitution. It is perfectly idle to go to Vattel, or 
to the earlier or later writers upon the laws of nations, to seek 
there the attributes of sovereignty, or to assume, as their conse- 
quence, the existence of power in the Government of the United 
States. The people of the respective States are the true sove- 
reigns of this country, and they possess all the rights, which, by 
the usage of nations, belong to that condition. You may go to 
the elementary writers to find what these rights are, but you must 
go to the Constitution to find how, and how far, their exercise has 
been confided to any department of the Government. If you find 
this delegation, you may act; if not, the people have reserved the 
power to themselves. You can declare war ; this is one of the 
most important attributes of sovereignty. But you do not go to 
Grotius, or Puffendorf, or Vattel, for the foundation of your ac- 
tion ; that you seek in the great deed of the American people. 
And if it were not there, you would be just as powerless to de- 
clare Avar, as you are to choose a king. Ours is a government of 
limited powers and of strict construction ; and yet we so easily 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 397 

depart from first principles, that here is a strenuous effort to clothe 
this delegated legislature with sovereign power, because sovereign- 
ty is an essential condition of an independent people." 

Upon the general merits of the report and bill of the committee 
General Cass addressed the Senate at length on the 11th of June, 
1850. His speech is replete with argument and illustration, and 
must convince every reader, that the course adopted by him on this 
great and eventful question, was dictated by the purest patriotism 
and most ardent attachment to his country, and her institutions, 
and a controling desire to preserve uninjured at all sacrifices, the 
glorious union of the states. Like most of the speeches of Gen. 
Cass, it contains a history of the subject to which it has reference, 
and though every reader of it may be unable to acquiesce in all its 
sentiments, he cannot fail to be instructed and enlightened by its 
perusal. 

The consideration of the bill was further continued in the Sen- 
ate. On the 31st of July, Mr. Pearce of Maryland, moved to strike 
from the bill all that related to New Mexico. This was agreed to 
by the Senate. Mr. Walker of Wisconsin, had previously moved 
to strike from the bill all except that part relating to California, 
but the motion was unsuccessful. Mr. Atchison of Missouri, who 
was pleased with only part of the bill, that providing a territorial 
government for Utah, moved on the 31st July, to strike from it, 
the provisions relating to California, and the Senate by a vote of 
thirty-four to twenty-five agreed to the motion. The bill was thus 
left containing simply the provision of a territorial government for 
Utah, and in that shape passed the Senate on the second of Au- 
gust ensuing. The other subjects embraced in the bill reported 
by the committee, viz : the admission of California, the establish- 
ment of a government for New Mexico, and the proposals for the 
establishment of the boundaries of Texas, were subsequently pass- 
ed by the Senate in separate bills. The admission of California 
was opposed by some of the most eminent Southern Senators. 
The action of the people in forming a constitution was assumed to 
be unauthorized, and that the assent of Congress to their proceed- 
ings by admitting California into the Union, would be unconstitu- 
tional. Mr. Berrien of Georgia, in opposition to the act of admis- 
sion, argued that the people of California had no right to organize 
themselves into a state government — that the proceeding was en- 



398 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

tirely without precedent. The fallacy of this argument was ex- 
posed by Gen. Cass in a masterly speech from which the following 
extract is taken : 

The Senator from Georgia has said, that the people of Califor- 
nia had no right to organize themselves into a State Government, 
and that there is no instance of such a proceeding in the history of 
our territorial establishments. So far as respects the creation of 
a State government and the application for admission into the 
Union, independent of the action of Congress, there are several 
such cases in our political annals. So far as respects the organi- 
zation of a political system itself, the creation of a government, no 
such precedent indeed exists; for never before did Congress utter- 
ly neglect its duty, and leave a new and remote acquisition without 
organization, exposed to all the evils of anarchy, and to be s^ved 
only by their own wisdom and firmness. Here is where all paral- 
lel and precedent cease ; nor do I believe there is another country 
on the face of the earth, where such legislative neglect of great in- 
teresls can be found. And are we to be conducted through some 
politico-metaphysical process of reasoning, and asked to prove, 
step by step, the right of 700,000 American citizens to provide for 
their own social existence, and to apply for admission into this 
Union, as you would require proof to establish the ownership of a 
home? No, sir, there are far higher considerations than these in- 
volved in such a relation, and which appeal at once to the head 
and heart of every American. The Senator has himself said, that 
these people were justified in forming a government, but that they 
should have formed a territorial and not a State government. 
Well, sir, this concession is worth something; for it admits the 
validity of their political organization, and their right to frame 
laws and to administer them. And what reason does the Senator 
urore why the political action of the people should have been con- 
fined to one of these forms of organization, and not extended to 
the other ? There is, of course, no legal or constitutional restraint, 
and whatever may exist must be imposed by some overruling prin- 
ciple, deduced from our institutions. The people, says the Sena- 
tor, in forming a government, had no right to go further than the 
actual necessity required, and should have contented themselves 
with the smallest possible modicum of freedom. I can understand 
why a government, exercising delegated and limited powers, should 
be limited in their exercise by the necessity, which calls them into 
action. But what principle of human right or human reason re- 
quires a people, necessarily called to institute a government, to 
content themselves with the least possible degree of liberty, com- 
patible with the actual peace of society, I confess my utter inabi- 
lity to discern. The rights are their own, not ours ; and if we 
compel them to act, they must judge what their interest requires. 
I do not contend that they have an actual claim to admission into 
ilhe Union. I do not deny that it is our right and our duty to look 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 399 

to their circumstances, and to receive or reject them, as their num- 
bers and condition may justify. If the number or condition of the 
people of California is not such as to justify their admission, let it 
be shown, and let their application be refused. But I do deny, 
that the nature of their political organization, brought about by our 
neglect, furnishes any valid reason for excluding them from this 
|reat Confederacy, into which they are so desirous to enter. But, 
after all, what could they have done, but precisely what they did ? 
They had to organize a government ; that the Senator from Geor- 
gia admits. And how were they to organize a Territorial Govern- 
ment, which necessarily, ex vi termini, derives its powers from the 
United States 1 That is the very essence of its existence, and that 
existence, it could only acquire by an act of Congress ; and 
because Congress would not pass any act upon the subject, was 
precisely the justification for the proceeding. How were they to 
possess a Territorial Governor or Judges, or to be placed under 
the control of the Federal judiciary by their own act ? And with- 
out these bonds of connexion, and others like them, how was their 
Government to become a Territorial one .' It could not be, sir — 
it could not be. Their de facto government was necessarily de- 
rived from themselves, and depended on themselves ; their relation 
must be defined by the action of Congress ; and, under these cir- 
cumstances, can it be seriously contended, that they had no right 
to come here and ask admission into the Union, and that we ought 
to reject them because they had not a Territorial Government 1 
Why, sir, this is no way to deal with human rights. You cannot 
stand up before the people of this country and maintain such a po- 
sition. |You are at war with those everlasting principles of human 
nature and human freedom, which no power can destroy, and which, 
when taken from a people, are taken by force and not by right. 

The Senator from Georgia says it is true there have been delay 
and neglect in the organization of a government for the people of 
California, but that this has been owing not to her, but to you, and 
you, members of this body. And pray, Mr. President, what has 
this to do with the practical effect of congressional inaction ? We 
are not inquiring into the causes of the dissension among Senators 
and Representatives, which have produced this unhappy result, 
but into the present condition of things, and into the effect, which 
this neglect has produced upon our Mexican acquisitions. We 
are, or should be, looking to the just claims of California, and not 
to any retrospect of our own errors. The Senator says that those 
associated with him in his views were anxious to establish govern- 
ments, but that their efforts were not excepted. Well, sir, this is 
just what members opposed to his views say in return : You are 
to blame for this state of things, for you would not accept the of- 
fers we made of co-operation. I need hardly say, my views coin- 
cide with those of the Senator from Georgia, upon the object of 
the Wilmot proviso : but still I do not shut my eyes to the fact, 
that in the consideration of the claims of California, mutual recrim- 



400 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

ination here conduces neither to our own harmony, nor to her in- 
terest. If we should go on in this way till doomsday, our labors 
would be as barren, as they have been thus far during the session. 
The true question is, what we ought to do — not what we have left 
undone, and why we have thus left it. The Senator denies that 
California is a Stale ; while, for my part, I consider her as truly a 
State as any on the face of the earth. The Senator from Maine, 
(Mr. Hamlin,) some time since, recalled a remark upon this sub- 
ject, which leaves no other answer to be desired. He said it was 
men that made states — and it is so ; not trees, nor lands, nor gold 
mines, but men, for whose use all these objects were created. 
And as to entering into the metaphysics of this matter, and into 
the solution of all the nice questions, which ingenuity may raise, 
respecting the transition of a community from one political con- 
dition to another, and the precise moment — ten minutes after 
twelve o'clock, for instance — when its chrysalis state terminates, 
and its transformation is complete, let him pursue these investiga- 
tions, who has a taste for them — I have none. For one, I shall 
deal with the principles of our own institutions, and with the rights 
of human nature in their plain, direct application to the condition 
of American society, wherever it may be. And doing so in this 
instance, I find the Congress of the United States has neglected 
one of its most imperative and important duties — the institution of 
a government for California; and having driven the people to do 
for themselves what we ought to have done for them, we have now 
no right to condemn their course and refuse their application, 
because they did not establish a territorial government, which alone 
could be established by the authority of Congress. 

The bill •' to provide for the more effectual execution of the third 
clause of the second section of the fourth article of the Constitu- 
tion of the United States," generally known as the " fugitive slave" 
bill, was taken up in the Senate, August nineteenth. As one of 
the measures of compromise calculated to restore harmony and 
good feeling, Gen. Cass supported the bill. The bill under con- 
sideration was one introduced in January preceding by Mr. Mason 
of Virginia, and amendments had been recommended by the com- 
mittee on the judiciary and by the select committee of thirteen. 
The mover of the original bill offered a substitute for it, to which 
various amendments were offered and debated. The bill being 
finally perfected had its third reading and passed the Senate on the 
24th of August. In supporting this measure Gen. Cass urged that 
it should conform to the main features of the act of 1793, upon the 
same subject, and that the changes which experience had shown 
to be necessary should be introduced by way of amendment to the 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 401 

law of 1793. The principles sustained by Gen. Cass, were : First — 
the right of the master to arrest his fugitive slave wherever he maj 
find him. Second — His duty to carry him before a magistrate in 
the State where he is arrested, that the claim may be adjudged by 
him. Third — the duty of the magistrate to examine the claim, and 
to decide upon it like other examining magistrates, without a jury, 
and then to commit him to the custody of the master. Fourth — 
The richt of the master then to remove the slave to his residence. 

The last of the measures known as the " peace measures " — the 
bill abolishing the slave trade in the District of Columbia — pas- 
sed the Senate on the 16th of September. The House of Repre- 
sentatives concurred in regard to all these several bills and passed 
them. 

The most beneficial results were anticipated from the action of 
Congress. It was hoped, and appearances seemed to justify it, 
that conciliatory measures, advised by the great statesmen of both 
parties, would have an immediate effect in quieting agitation, 
and calming the public mind to an acquiescence in the comprom- 
ise measures of Congress. But, the adjournment of Congress was 
followed by increased excitement and more earnest and bitter dis- 
cussion among the people and the public presses. The several 
"peace measures" formed themes for angry dispute, particularly 
the fugitive slave law, which, while it was denounced by northern 
ultraists as conceding too much to the claims of the south, was re- 
ected, by the southern secessionists, as worthless. Yet it is im- 
possible to believe otherwise, than that the course adopted was the 
best that could be devised. For it may well be asked, where could 
we look for counsel, if not to those very men, who had the matter 
in charge 1 If Clay, Webster, Cass, Douglass, and their co-labor- 
ers, for union and harmony, could not bring forward measures ad- 
equate to the exigency, we might well despair of ever having the 
controversy settled. Except in the State of South Carolina, public 
sentiment, in the southern States, was nearly equally divided up- 
on the compromise measures, and there is ground for hope that 
both at the north and south, time and more deliberate reflection 
will satisfy all, that by those measures, the rights of every section 
of the Union have been respected, and a basis formed, upon which 

may be safely and securely built the hopes of the patriot — for the 

26 



402 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

perpetuation of the Union. To those men who, at this crisis, stood 
by their country, what a debt of gratitude and esteem is due. 
Their names will be cherished and their memories revered as the 
saviors of their country. And, how can a grateful people ever for- 
get the labors of Lewis Cass, in that moment of tremendous excite- 
ment, when upholding the banner of his country, with that glori- 
ous motto inscribed upon it, " Our whole country — no sectional 
differences," he stood, calm and undisturbed, in the Council Hall 
of the nation, amid the storm and tempest of intense excitement — 
beatincr back the furious winds of disunion and civil war, and the 
sirocco blasts of infatuation and fanaticism. The full value of his 
services could only be realized through the direful experience of 
what might have been, had he not stood the unconquerable protect- 
or of his country — the contrast between our happy country, as she 
now is, and what she would be, were we looking on " the broken 
and dishonored fragments of a once glorious Union ; on States dis- 
severed, discordant, belligerent ; on a land, rent with civil feuds, 
and drenched in fraternal blood !" 

Not only in his place in the Senate, has Gen. Cass labored to 
preserve intact the integrity of the Union and unwavering obedi- 
ence to the constitution, but among his fellow citizens, at public 
meetings, he has urged the duty incumbent upon every true patri- 
ot. At the public reception, tendered by the citizens of New- York, 
to himself and other distinguished members of Congress, in No- 
vember, 1850, he addressed the assemblage upon the exciting top- 
ics that agitate the country. Adverting to the progress of the com- 
promise measures, through Congress, the sacrifices made by all, to 
ensure their adoption, the setting aside political differences to ac- 
complish the one great object, he remarked : — 

" And where, in the long annals of mankind, do we find a peo" 
pie so highly favored as we are at this moment, when we seem to 
be struck with judicial blindness — almost ready, I may say, in the 
language of Scripture, to rush upon the thick bosses of Jehovah's 
buckler 1 The sun never shone upon a country as free and so 
prosperous as this, where human freedom finds less oppression, the 
human intellect less restraint, or human industry less opposition. 
And what overpowering object is before us, which would justify 
the sacrifice of all these blessings ? Why is one section of the 
country arrayed against another, and why are men found in it who 
are both ready to sever our constitutional ties by the sword, and to 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 403 

C0Tr?mit the future of this great republic to those dissensions whose 
consequences no man can foresee ? Is there any advantage which 
disunion would make greater ? Is there any evil it would make 
lighter? Any security for the present, or hope for the future, 
which would be increased by separation ? None, none. I repeat, 
then, whence this agitation, this alarm, these excited feelings," these 
hard thoughts, which are spoken in hard words, and are fast lead- 
ing to hard deeds? Why is it that the series of measures adopted 
at the last session of Congress, reasonable and equitable, under 
the circumstances, and approved by a large majority of the commu- 
nity, why is it that these have failed to calm the excitement, and 
to restore harmony and tranquility to the country? These various 
acts formed parts of one plan of compromise, and should be regard \ 
ed as pledging the faith of every portion of the country to their 
faithful observance, and if they are so, in spirit and in truth, we 
may speedily look forward to that good old fraternal feeling, which 
brought us together, and which alone can keep us together. But, 
unfortunately, the public mind in the North has been much excited 
by the passage of one of those laws, that for carrying into effect 
the provisions of the constitution on the subject of fugitive slaves, 
and it has been misquoted and misrepresented with such a bold- 
ness of perversion, unknown before in our political controversies, 
that its repeal is loudly called for in one portion of the country, 
and feared, if not anticipated, in another. For myself, 1 believe 
the repeal of that law would dissolve this confederation, as certainly 
as the morrow's sun will rise upon it. I believe the South would 
consider it a dereliction of constitutional duty, which would leave 
inoperative a great constitutional obligation, and a gross violation 
of political faith, which would destroy all confidence for the future, 
and that they would seek their remedy by assuming an independ- 
ent station among the nations of the earth. And believing this, I 
for one shall oppose its repeal. 

I am among those who acknowledge the stability of the consti- 
tutional obligation to surrender fugitives from justice, and fugitives 
from labor. I am among those who believe that the constitution is 
a law high enough for American citizens, in the regulation of their 
civil rights and duties, subject to the exposition of the proper tri- 
bunals. And I am satisfied that the act of 1793, on the subject of 
fugitive slaves, as I have already taken occasion to say in the Sen- 
ate, had become inefficient, and almost useless, and principally 
from the adverse action of the State Legislatures. And nothing 
could more strikingly demonstrate the truth of this proposition, 
than the fact stated by Mr. Webster, and confirmed by Mr. Q,uin- 
cy, that in the State of Massachusetts, where the opposition to the 
present law has been most general and violent, no fugitive slare 
has ever been surrendered since the adoption of the constitution. 
It is difficult to deal with such a state of things, and at the same 
time preserve our respect for those who seek to make political 
capital out of this agitation, so utterly nnsuited to the occasion. 



404 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

And wJiat renders this course the more extraordinary, is the fact 
that it Jias never been shown, so far as I know, that one single per- 
son, not a slave, has ever been surrendered anywhere under the 
constitution. And yet, to read the violent speeches and essays 
'npon this subject, one might suppose that the sending of free per- 
sons into bondage was an every day occurrence, which called for 
universal indignation. The recent disclosures which have been 
made since the new law went into effect, and which show a fugi- 
tive slave population in the non-slaveholding States, far beyond 
what any one had anticipated, is the best commentary upon the 
inefficiency of the former statutory provisions, and the best justifi- 
'cation for the complaints of the South. What, then, my fellew cit- 
izens, do Vv^e want? We want the restoration of harmony and 
tranquility to every portion, however scattered, of this great re- 
public, stretching from the shores that look upon Europe, to those 
which look upon the islands and continent of Asia. All want the 
peaceful enjoyment of our priceless institutions, and especially so 
do we, who are approaching our three score years and ten, who 
have passed our lives happily under this government, and who de- 
sire to cast off the fearful apprehension, that long as we have lived, 
we may yet outlive the constitution of our country. American 
citizens fiom the cradle, in God's good time, we hope to descend 
as American citizens to the grave, with the conviction, that after 
the religion of His Son, we leave to our children the richest herit- 
age that ever descended to a people. We want no more discord, 
excitement, agitation, but that the legislation, the business, the in- 
tercourse of the country should go on as in our former days of true 
union, with all the prosperity which belongs to such a state of 
things. No more crusades against the South, no more public as- 
semblies to denounce and vilify its people and its institutions, no 
more travelling missionaries to excite us against one another, and 
especially no more foreign travelling missionaries, who leave at 
home objects of misery quite enough to engage all their philan- 
thropy, and exhaust all their charity, without coming here, to in- 
struct us how to deal with a great question of constitutional duty. 
We want the ministers of religion to preach the gospel of the 
meek and lowly Jesus, and not to convert their pulpits into political 
tribunes, to inculcate the doctrine utterly inconsistent with the ex- 
istence of social order, that every man has a right to resist the laws 
of his country, when they differ from a standard he chooses to es- 
tablish for himself, and of whose extent and obligations he must be 
the iudge. This is not the example which was left us by our Di- 
vineMaster and his apostles. And who can point to a single ad- 
vantage which has resulted from all this violence, much, indeed, 
of it virulence? Has the prospect of emancipation in a single 
state, been advanced by it ? No, no. By a natural spirit of reac- 
tion — a spirit which prompts all of us to resist foreign interference, 
the institution of slavery is more firmly established in all the slave- 
holding States than it was thirty years ago. In the operations of 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 405 

an excited zeal, the fearful consequences involved in the question 
of emancipating three and a half millions of human beings, of a 
different race, habits, color — in everything, indeed, that constitutes 
human identity, living in the midst of another and superior caste, 
are utterly disregarded, and men rashly deal with such a subject as 
they would deal with a question of common domestic economy. 
Well it is for the South that this whole matter belongs to them- 
selves. There it can only be left, and there the constitution has 
left it. (Applause.) If there are any of us in the non-slave-hold- 
ing States so afflicted with a superabundant philanthropy that we 
cannot be easy without philanthropic action, if we will but stand 
in our own doors we can look around and see objects enough for 
our charitable exertion, without expanding and expending this sym- 
pathetic feeling, where the cost to us is as little as the advantage 
to others. It is a cheap way to be charitable, looking at its results 
upon the peace of the country. (Cheers.) We have been just 
told, in a public meeting at Worcester, by a modest English mis- 
sionary, who has come over here to enlighten our ignorance, and 
stimulate our virtuous indignation, that the " idea of abolition had 
taken root, and could no more be put down than the waves of the 
broad Atlantic could be rolled back," &c. And this is precisely 
what the South fears, and what a large portion of the South be- 
lieves ; and what increases the fearful difficulty of their position, 
and of ours. They see in all these movements an eternal attack 
upon the institutions of independent States, and they foresee the 
time when the barriers of the constitution will be broken down, and 
this object pursued till accomplished or defeated by some terrible 
crisis. The South is committing no aggression upon the North. 
They do not claim the right to interfere in our domestic relations, 
and to mould them to their own pleasure instead of ours. I firmly 
believe that a great majority of the Southern people would be fully 
satisfied with the compromise measures of the last session of Con- 
gress, if these are faithfully adhered to, and this perpetual warfare 
upon them and their institutions terminated. They acknowledge 
the institutions of the constitution, and are willing to abide by 
them. Are we willing to meet them in this patriotic duty 1 I 
trust we are, fellow citizens. I feel sure we are. But we have 
passed the season of empty professions, and need action, vigorous, 
united, constitutional action. We have approached the brink of 
destruction, and if we do not speedily retrace our steps, we shall 
be precipitated into the abyss. These times and this question are 
above party. It is not a difference of opinion respecting modes of 
administration which divides us, but it involves the very existence 
of the confederation. Whenever, or wherever, or however this 
question comes up, let us forget ihat we are party politicians, and 
remember only that we are Americans. Let us follow the example 
of the venerable Kentucky statesman; doing battle for his country 
towards the close of a long and illustrious life, with all the intd- 
lect and energy of his youth, and forgetting his party associations 



406 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

in the higher party of the constitution. Let us discountenance all 
further agitation of this whole subject. Let us rest upon the com- 
promise, firmly and honestly. Let us satisfy the people of the 
South, that the constitution is a law, which is high enough for pa- 
triotic Americans, and that for us and our households, we will 
hold by our obligations. If we do this, all will be well. If we do 
not, we shall add another to the long list of nations, unworthy of 
the blessings acquired for them by preceding generations, and in- 
capable of maintaining them, but none as signally so as we. 

The words of admonition and warning expressed by Gen. Cass, 
in his admirable letter to the committee of the Democratic Union 
festival at Baltimore, in December, 1850, should be borne in mind 
by every peace loving and law abiding man, no matter what may 
be his political tenets. 

"The Union," said Gen. Cass. "The Union is in danger." 
The evidence of this is borne to us by every breeze. Measures 
are advocated and urged, both in the North and South, with a zeal 
overleaping all discretion, and with a determination of purpose 
which, if it does not despise danger, disregards it, and which if not 
turned from its object by patriotism and moderation, will sound the 
knell of liberty in this republic. Let every true American come 
up to the good work. Let us all, whigs und democrats, unite in 
this holy duty, and rescue the ark of the constitution, from the 
perils that surround it. Let us preserve our respective principles 
of policy and administration ; let the whig remain a whig, and the 
democrat a democrat ; but in the great work of protecting their 
last and best refuge of human freedom from external and internal 
foes ; let us join together, head and heart, and this end once ob- 
tained, we can go on our way rejoicing, to continue that contest 
of action and of opinion which seems essential to the free and con- 
stitutional action of our government. 

I cannot be with you at your meeting. But the loss will be 
mine, for I am sure there will be a demonstration of affection and 
attachment to the Union which will gladden the heart of the pat- 
riot, and which will send on the decree, already, I trust, gone forth 
from the bosom of this great community. Let us live together as 
friends, as brethren, as members of one vast family, where the 
rights and interests of each are sacredly regarded and jjrotectcd 
ly the power of all. Let us be one people, tvith one country and 
one government, and let us have no other struggle but for the com- 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 407 

mon glory and common prosperity of this great Conjederation, 
ichosc boundaries arc already swept hy the breezes that come from 
the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. 

The action of Gen. Cass, on the slavery question, received hearty 
approval, not only from the democracy of Michigan, but from 
the friends of union and constitutional rights every where in the 
United States. He was hailed without distinction of party, as one 
of the saviors of the Union. The country was for some time in a 
most perilous condition, and had there been other and less firm 
and patriotic men in the Senate of the United States, the result 
must have been disastrous to the confederacy. A crisis had been 
reached, where the perpetuity of our Union seemed to depend 
solely on the deeds of a few statesmen whose decision would either 
quiet the fierce excitement, or add to its fury by uniting with it, 
the experiment of disunion. The incidental questions of public 
policy, arising from the existence of slavery, have for years past 
afforded a tempting opportunity to selfish and ambitious dema- 
gogues to raise a storm which has rocked and tossed the ship of 
State upon a wild sea of agitation, which, but for the sacrificing 
endurance of a few unyielding pilots must have finally overwhelmed 
it. They faced the storm, and foremost among them, from the 
first moment of threatnincr danger, stood the venerable Senator 
from Michigan, amid the storm and tempest guiding the bark he 
had in charge, safely into port, despite the southern hurricane of 
nullification and disunion, and the northern blasts of abolition and 
fanaticism. 

There was a moment in that intense excitement when the storm • 
had nearly reached the height of its power, when the discordant 
elements of nullification, freesoilism, and abolitionism, thought to 
obtain the victory over the veteran helmsman, but they were driv- 
en back, beaten and discomfitted. At the time of the election of 
Gen. Cass by the Legislature of 1849, an attempt was made to 
defeat him. A mass of heterogeneous opposition was arrayed 
against him, with strength which would have overwhelmed anyone 
less pure m principle, or infirm of purpose. But the remembrance 
of his patriotism, his efforts for the safety of his country, proved 
his shield and buckler. He triumphed over the combined factions 
which sought his defeat. They were able, however, to hamper his 



408 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

free action by a set of resolutions of instruction, expressive of 
opinions repugnant to the position he had maintained. But the 
triumph was but momentary. At the succeeding session of the 
Legislature, the shackling resolutions were repealed, and Gen. 
Cass left free to act as his judgment should dictate. 

The men who bound him down by instructions, which he could 
not conscientiously obey, retraced their steps, satisfied that they 
had been guilty of great wrong to their country, their Senator and 
themselves. It was fortunate for the destiny of our country, that 
the Legislature of Michigan, before it was too late, corrected the 
mistake that it had made. Gen. Cass would not have disobeyed 
the instructions he received, nor would he have done that violence 
to his own opinions which they demanded. He would have re- 
turned his trust to his constituents, and perchance his place might 
have been occupied at the very moment of extreme danger, by 
one less unyielding to the momentary and unsound impulse that 
dictated the instructions. But a still greater change was yet to 
occur, bearing with it a more triumphant vindication of his states- 
manship and patriotism. His term as Senator expired with the 
Congress of 1850. The whole sentiment of the country asked 
for his re-election, and the Legislature of 1851, with an unanimi- 
ty unprecedented, selected him on the first day of the session, for 
the ensuing six years. Their choice received the warmest appro- 
bation from the national democratic party, and his whig opponents 
secretly rejoiced at his return to the Senate. The congratulations 
which were spontaneously offered to the democracy of Michigan 
for this glorious tribute of attachment to the true principles of the 
party, were received with inexpressible pleasure. They felt as if 
they had in part paid the immense debt of gratitude due him, a 
debt which can only at most be partially discharged by his eleva- 
tion to the highest honors of the Republic. Few indeed will de- 
ny that his moderation and firmness — his conciliatory policy, 
guarded by strict adherence to constitutional provisions and com- 
promises, conjoined with the efforts of other distinguished states- 
men, averted the danger which threatened our Union. 

The democrats of the nation cannot forget how unfalteringly 
he bore at the late Presidential contest the standard of their party, 
with that glorious sentiment of his own heart — "Our whole coun- 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 409 

try — no sectional prejudices" — and that, although the eagle of vic- 
tory did not then rest upon our flag, yet the stout hearted bearer 
kept it " full high advanced" beyond the reach of the motley crew 
who would have trailed it in the dust and dirt of sectional agita- 
tion and the filth of abolition. The defeat of the democratic 
party in that contest, is one of those events which cannot be ac- 
counted for, by any system of political deduction, founded upon 
ordinary premises, but must be ascribed to a general prevalence 
of misapprehension — perhaps indifference. The result should 
teach a salutary lesson, which every democrat should carry insert- 
ed at the head of his political creed, that " eternal vigilance is the 
price of success." 



CHAPTER XVni, 

Gen. Cass' acquirements and literary standing— His power as a writer— His com- 
mand of language— Contributions to the Reviews— His sketches of Indian 
character— His exposure of the frauds and inaccuracies of certain writers of In- 
dian History— His account of the battle of JSew Orleans— His travels in the 
East— Extract from North American Review— His addresses on seTeral occa- 
sions— Extract— Extracts from his address before the New England Society of 
Michigan—-' France, its King. Court and Government— Extract from address 
before the Agricultural Society of Michigan— His personal appearance, fee- 
Conclusion. 

The more immediate object of this work is to present m con- 
nection, the principal events in the life of Gen Cass, which have 
marked his career as a public man, on the field of battle, in the 
Cabinet, at a foreign Court, and in the halls of legislation. In 
closing this sketch of his public life, a brief mention of his literary 
productions will serve to show that his pen has not been confined 
exclusively to the advocacy of political theories ; and that even 
amid the labors of the camp, the treaty ground, or the diplomatic 
circle, he has found time to add to the literary wealth of our coun- 
try, and enrich its stores by giving to the public his views and 
impressions on subjects about which they have felt more than or- 
dinary interest. His essays and reviews exhibit a most profound 
and extensive acquaintance with the subjects of his research, and 
his reflections are clothed in language pure, comprehensive and 
definitely expressive of the idea of the writer. Certainly no better 
illustration of the strength and power of the English language, can 
be found, than in his writings. For felicity and clearness of ex- 
pression ; for using just the right word in the right place, and an 
entire absence of all " fantastic barbarism of expression,'" they 
hold a high rank in the world of letters. His contributions to the 
North American Review, in the days of its commanding influence 
and superiority, added as well to the celebrity of that magazine, 
as to the dissemination of correct information upon subjects which 
formed the text of his criticisms. 

The most accurate and reliable account of the condition, traits 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 411 

of character, and philological peculiarities, of the Indian tribes is 
to be found in the articles of Gen. Cass, published in the North 
American Review durinor the year 1827, reviewinor the works of 
Hunter, Halkeld, Heckwelder and Rawle, on Indian customs and 
manners. The gross misrepresentations of the first named writer, 
the results of ignorance and a desimi to create odium against the 
United States, were exposed in a masterly manner, by Gen. Cass, 
in the January number of the Review, for 1827 ; and the errors 
and inaccuracies of the devoted missionary, Heckwelder, caused 
by his close intimacy with, and fondness for, one single tribe, in- 
vestigated and corrected in a spirit of enlightened criticism seeking 
to impart truth, while it regretted the necessity of counteracting 
the effects of the erroneous opinions and prominent errors of the 
zealous and self-sacrificing Moravian. Additional contributions 
to knowledge of Indian affairs, and a correct understanding of the 
policy of the United States, in regard to the Indians, were made 
by Gen. Cass in elaborate conr:munications to the same Review, in 
the years 1828 and 1830, in which the relations of the government 
with the aborigines are fully explained and investigate d. The state- 
ments of the London Quarterly Review, upon which it based its 
censures of the treatment which the Indians received from the 
United States, were shown, by indisputable proof, to be equally 
destitute of courtesy and truth. The siege of New Orleans forms 
the subject of an article from the pen of Gen. Cass, published in 
the American Quarterly Review for January, 1835 — and, although 
the account of a British officer, of the attack on New Orleans, is 
placed at the head of the article, the reader will find the article to 
be a separate and distinct narrative of that brilliant event. 

When Gen. Cass accepted the office of Minister to France, it 
was with the condition, that if the duties of his station would per- 
mit it, he should fulfil a determinatioinpreviously made, of visiting 
the lands of ancient story and classic history. Opportunity favor- 
ed this determination, and Gen. Cass visited the countries famed 
in history as the theatre of great events, sacred and profane. He 
ascended the Nile — traversed the Holy Land — saw the Mount of 
Olives — the garden of Gethsemane, Mount Gihon, and the pools 
and fountain^ around Jerusalem, as recorded in Bible history. It 



412 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

is to be regretted that he has not given to the world a continuous 
account of his travels in the East. 

The following extracts from an article in the North American 
Review, will afford an example of Gen. Cass' power of description : 

* * * a This great sandy desert extends along 

the Mediterranean, at a short distance from its shores, and reaches 
to the Red Sea. It obtains, very soon, a considerable elevation, 
and then presents the aspect of an irregular plane, varied by hills 
and hollows. A traveler in this region would see before him a 
chain of sand hills, extending across the line of his route, and, on 
attaining their summit would see beneath him an immense valley. 
Whether approaching by the Lybian or the Arabian desert, the as- 
pect would be the same. He would stand upon a sandy ridge, with 
all that the imagination could conceive most desolate behind him, 
and before him one of the most magnificent prospects ever pre- 
sented to human eyes. He would survey a deep valley, bright with 
vegetation, and teeming with a depressed but laborious population, 
engaged in the various labors of agriculture. He would see oppo- 
site to him another eternal rampart, which, with the one Ije stands 
upon, shuts in this valley, and between them a mighty river, flow- 
ing in a winding course, from the foot of one chain to the other, 
furnishing lateral canals, which become fountains, whence the wa- 
ter is elevated by wheels and buckets of the rudest structure, 
worked sometimes by men and sometimes by cattle, and no doubt 
identical with the process in use in the daysof Sesostris ; and this 
water is conveyed over the surface, and communicates that won- 
derful fertility, which formerly rendered this country the granary 
of the world, and yet endows it with a power of production un- 
known even in the most highly cultivated parts of Europe. And 
this river is the Nile, and this valley is Egypt ; the Egypt of the 
enslaved Israelites, and of their proud task-masters ; the Egypt of 
the Pharaohs, of the Ptolemies, and of the Mamelukes; the Egypt 
of On, of Thebes, of Memphis, and of — Damietta ; the Egypt 
of early civilization, where science and literature were first culti- 
vated, and whence they were sent to enlighten the nations of the 
west, and the Egypt of the Fellahs, and of the grossest ignorance 

and misery. 

***** 

Jerusalem has been a fruitful theme in the journals of the trav- 
elers. Tradition has maAed the spot of every interesting inci- 
dent, which the Scriptures record as having occurred within its 
walls. Credulity and skepticism have equally examined and dis- 
cussed these legendary tales. Men of the ardent temperament of 
Chateaubriand and Lamartine, believe every thing ; while others, 
like Volney, whose mental temperament is different, believe noth- 
ing. Probably not one stone of ancient Jerusalem remains in its 
place. They point to a part of the foundation of the walls, facing 
the valley of Jehoshaphat, where are some large blocks, apparently 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 413 

of an earlier age than the rest of the structure, and consider these 
as the relics of the ancient city. But this is a mere conjecture, 
resting upon no established proof Jerusalem has been swept with 
the besom of destruction. The imprecations against it have been 
fulfilled. The Assyrian, the Greek, the Roman, the Crusader, the 
Turk, the Egyptian, have marched over its walls, and established 
their camps in its holy places. Superstition, fanaticism, revenge, 
have conspired to sweep away its monuments and to make it deso- 
late. The great features of its topography no human power can 
change. They have been imperishably marked out by an Almighty 
hand. Its site occupies the projecting point of a high hill, bound- 
ed on the east by a deep, narrow valley, successive portions of 
which were called the valley of Kedron, of Jehoshaphat, and of 
Siloam, in the bottom of which flows the brook of Kedron ; and 
on the southwest and south by the valley of Sihon, where trickles 
the little stream called Gihon. These rivulets unite, a short dis- 
tance below the pool or spring of Siloam, and wind their way 
among broken mountains to the Dead Sea. On the northwest the 
city joins the table land of the country, and it is in this direction, 
that it has been successively enlarged and contracted, as prosperity 
or adversity augmented or diminished its population. And, al- 
though it has been supposed by some writers, that the ancient city 
extended across the valley of Gihon, yet the conjecture has been 
advanced solely to render the legendary sites of some of the mira- 
culous events which occurred within its walls, consistent with 
Scripture narrative, and is contradicted by the nature of the ground; 
for it is unreasonable to suppose, that the advantage of a strong 
position would be abandoned by enclosing a deep valley, when 

there was space enough on the table land for indefinite extension. 

* * # * * 

The reverberation of the sun's rays gave to the vale of Siddim 
an equatorial heat in the month of August, and we raised ourselves 
from the fount of Elisha, and resumed our route to the Dead Sea, 
before the dawn of day, to avoid, as much as possible, the noon- 
tide sun. We traversed much of the space between Jericho and 
the shore of the lake in the night, and a most impressively mourn- 
ful ride we had of it ; over barren sands, covered here and there 
by lovv, stunted bushes, every now and then striking us in the face, 
to warn us, as it were, that the home of the wild Arab was around 
us. And, as the streaks of morning light dawned over the moun- . 
tain of Moab, a most extraordinary spectacle presented itself to 
our eyes ; an army appeared upon the dreary, deserted sand, be- 
tween us and the dark water, which stretched away beyond our 
view, lost in the high ridges, which overhung it. No deception 
was ever more complete ; for long ranks of soldiers seemed drawn 
up, marching and countermarching in all directions, with great 
regularity. It looked as if the genius of the place had embodied 
his forces, to bar all access to his gloomy dominions. And it was 
only as the day advanced, and as we approached the shore, that our 



414 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

formidable enemy assumed the peaceable shape of countless flocks 
of birds, of the heron species, who, the Arabs say, come to pass 
the night upon the sand, and in the day seek their food among the 
reptiles in the mountains. The immensity of their numbers ex- 
ceeded all imagination ; and, if the regions of Palestine are fertile 
in nothing else, they must be most prolific in snakes, if the Arab 
■natural historian may be trusted. And this is the Dead Sea, and 
below these dark waters are the sites, perhaps the ruins of Sodom 
and Gomorrah, such as "when the smoke of the country went up, 
as the smoke of a furnace." There is a tale, that nothing living, 
not even a bird, can ever cross this sea. But there is no need of 
imaginary stories to heighten the desolation of the scene, and we, 
as well as other travelers, can testify to its inaccurary, by our own 
observations. We believe, however, that its waters are unfavora- 
ble to animal life ; and, though a shell or two may be occasionally 
picked up upon the shore, yet these have been probably brought 
down by the Jordan. The water is excessively bitter and nause- 
ous ; and, if additional evidence were wanting, we also could testify 
to its great gravity, and to the buoyancy of the human body, when 
immersed in it. It is only by much exertion, and for a very short 
time, that any one can get and remain below the surface. 

We went from here to the Jordan, and struck the river, where 
tradition says, the children of Israel passed over, when they first 
entered the Land of Promise. On the w^est side is a low bottom, 
and on the east a high sandy bluff, and the shores of the river are 
covered with aquatic bushes. The water was thick and turbid, 
and the current rapid, and too deep to be sounded, " for Jordan 
overflowed all his banks, all the time of harvest." And here cross- 
ed the Jewish nation, over this turbulent stream, "on dry ground, 
until all the people were passed clean over Jordan." And we fol- 
lowed their route to Jericho, the frontier city of the Canaanites, 
where "the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell 
down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man 
straight before him, and they took the city." There is no city now 
to take, nor are there any walls now to fall. There are a few mis- 
erable hovels, made of rude stones and mud, and the ruined walls 
of a building of the middle ages, where the wretched Arabs bur- 
row, rather than live. Jericho has disappeared as completely as 
her rival cities, which sunk before the wrath of the Almighty. 
And it requires an effort to be satisfied, that here the great mira- 
cle, which attended the entrance of the Jews into Canaan, was 
performed, though the truth of the denunciation is before the eyes 
of the traveler : "Cursed be the man before the Lord, that raiseth 
up and buildeth this city Jericho." 

On various occasions Gen. Cass has delivered addresses before 
scientific and literary associations and other societies, most of 
which have been published and laid before the public. In Sep- 
tember 1829, he delivered a discourse at the first meeting of the 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 415 

Historical Society of Michigan ; and also one in 1836, before the 
American Historical Society of Washington, of which he was Presi- 
dent. In August, 1830, he accepted an invitation from the asso- 
ciation of the Alumni of Hamilton College, to deliver an address 
at their anniversary meeting. He also delivered an oration on the 
Fourth of July, 1843, at Fort Wayne, Indiana, at the celebration 
of the completion of the Wabash and Erie canal. 

It is presumed that the reader will ask no apology for the inser 
tion here of the annexed portions of the address delivered by Gen. 
Cass before the New England Society of Michigan, on the twenty- 
second of December, 1848. The description of the impressive 
ceremony, when the Pilgrims were about to leave the shores of 
Holland, is unequalled for beauty of expression and fitness of lan- 
guage to the scene portrayed. 

" And now came the embarkation ; the first act in the great dra- 
ma of their pilgrimage. The May Flower — I pass over the history 
of her consort, as she did not reach America — the May Flower, 
destined to become their ark across the ocean, was ready to receive 
them at the small port of Delft, in Holland. The little colony, 
male and female, youth, manhood and old age, marched in solemn 
procession to the strand, and here occurred an impressive scene, 
one of those incidents, which mark the character of events, and 
leave their impress upon history, during all time to come. The de- 
parting band kneeled down upon the beach, and their venerable 
pastor blessed their enterprise, and commended all, with all their 
interests, to Him, who made the sea and land, and conld save them 
from the perils of the deep, as he saved his chosen people, and 
cruided thera in his own miraculous path through the waters of the 

Red Sea." 

***** 

" And on the strand of the ocean, in that temple not made with 
hands, was the last offering of the Pilgrims. The old cathedrals 
of Europe are imposing structures, powerfully affecting the human 
imagination, and preparing the human mind for the solemn duties 
of Religion. Their dim light, mellowed by the stained glass, 
painted with interesting scenes from Biblical story, their lofty 
arches, their clustered columns, their long aisles, their silence and 
their magnitude, and the centuries that have passed over th em, 
with the memory of the numberless host, that worshipp ed there 
and have now gone to their account, all these impress the faculties 
with awe, and while they shut out external nature, they invite man 
to the contemplation of himself and of his relation to his Create r. 
But the shore of the ocean was the cathedral of the exiles. They 
had the blue firmament of heaven, God's own canopy, over them, 
their altar was the tide worn beach, where land and water had met 



416 LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 

and contended for mastery since the creation ; around them was 
the coast of Europe, they were about to leave, and the broad At- 
lantic, they were about to cross, rolling its surges upon the strand, 
and mingling its mighty voice with the voice of the preacher ; and 
between them, their wives and children, and the forests of the new 
world, was nothing but the sky and the water, and the wonders of 

the great deep. And thus they prayed and departed. 

***** 

" The chances and changes of the world are written in living 
characters, upon every page of human story. Sometimes its mu- 
tations, in the stern reality of truth, are stranger than the wildest 
fiction of Eastern imagination. I have often conversed in early 
youth, with a venerable relative, then at the extremity of a long 
life, who was a cotemporary of the first child, born to the Pilgrims, 
after they landed upon this continent. What an almost overpow- 
ering image of the progress of this federative empire, does the 
simple fact present, that a single life measures the space between 
the oldest born of one great portion of the new race destined to oc- 
cupy this Hemisphere, and the twenty millions of people, who are 
now fulfilling that mighty mission, commenced in weakness, but 
consummated in power. Between the little band of self-expatriated 
christians, seeking a home, they knew not where, and the means 
of life, they knew not how, and the great nation which has none to 
make it afraid, and which stretches its vast domain from the At- 
lantic to the Pacific, and almost from the Arctic Circle to the 
Northern Tropic. What contrast can be stronger or stranger, than 
that which this day in its annual revolution, presents to the obser- 
ver ; commemorated, as it is, wherever the sons of New England 
are found; and that wherever is everywhere, and in regions far 
beyond the world of the Pilgrims, and that which it presented, when 
the rock of Plymouth received the stranger from the bosom of the 
ocean, and became his pedestal in a New World. It was the end 
of his pilgrimage. It has now become the object of ours. A shrine 
of patriotism, hallowed by the act it witnessed, to which our coun- 
trymen will hereafter come up, and standing where the Pilgrims 
stood, recall the days, and the deeds, and the dead, which make 
that mass of unhewn granite one of the high places of the earth. 
It needs no sculpture to give it interest. No inscription to carry 
down to ages yet unborn the memory of the scenes which have 
passed over it, and which will forever '• live in remembrance, and 
grow green in song." And I have stood upon this relic of the 
olden time, and have called back the day of deb irka^ion, and the 
humble scene, which Ins rn;ide it immort;il. And I have stood in 
prouder places; prouder in their renown, for their names are writ- 
ten on the deathless pages of Homer and Herodotus. I have stood 
upon the plain of Troy, and the field of Marathon ; and have re- 
called the departed glories of the early ages ; but if these names 
of mighty import excited my imagination, the associations of the 
rock of our fathers touched ray heart, and I bowed in gratitude to 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS. 4IT 

Him, who provided a home, our home, for the Pilgrims, and gn5- 
ded them till they found it. 

Gen. Cass was also the writer of an article entitled " France, its 
King, Court, and Government," published a few years ago in the 
Democratic Review, and since then, in the form of a volume. 
The influence of that article in securing the good will of tlie 
French Court and Government towards the United States and their 
Representative, has not, perhaps, been appreciated to its just ex- 
tent. 

The latest literary effort of Gen. Cass, was an address delivered 
in September 1851, before the Agricultural Society of the State 
of Michigan. This address has been published in nearly all the 
newspapers of the country, and has elicited from all, unqualified 
admiration. The acquaintance manifested by the writer, with the 
minutia of agricultural science, is indeed astonishing, when it is 
remembered in what different pursuits he has passed his life. The 
address abounds in suggestions for improvement in agricultural 
knowledge, which are thoroughly practical, and have on their face 
evidence of their eminent utility, if adopted. The duty of the 
agriculturist, and the importance of his occupation to the welfare 
of government, is forcibly delineated in the following paragraphs: 

" I have presented for your consideration, for your co-operation, 
indeed, various suggestions connected with the advancement of 
agriculture ; but far beyond these in influence and importance, is 
the advancement of the agriculturist ; the education, sound, prac- 
tical and enlarged, of that vast body of our youth who form, and 
are to form, the farming interest of our country ; an interest that 
embraces more than one half of our population, and a still greater 
proportion of the permanent influence to which our social and po- 
litical institutions must look for support in those periods of their 
trial, which have heretofore come upon other nations and have 
come upon us. The cultivator of the soil is engaged in one of the 
noblest occupations that belongs to the whole circle of human em- 
ployment. In replenishing the earth and subduing it, and in inuJ~ 
tiplying every herl hearing seed, and every tree^in tvhich ?.s the 
fruit of a tree yielding seed, all of which were given to man " for 
meat," before he left his primitive residence, where God first plant- 
ed him. He deals with organic life, with its production, its im- 
provement, its multiplication with the means of subsi.stence for that 
great family of rational and responsible beings which "ha.s domin- 
ion" over all that the earth brings forth, as well as over every liv- 
ing thing that moveth upon it. His existence does not pass in 
crowded cities, the works of man, surrounded with the physical 



418 LIFE GENERAL CASS. 

and moral ills, which a dense population is sure to bring with it. 
He walks abroad among the works of God, reading the great Book 
of Nature, whose every page is filled with lessons of wisdom, writ- 
ten in characters that no man can misunderstand, lut the fool that 
saith in his heart there is no God. 

The light that shines, the wind that blows, the rain that falls, 
the phenomena of nature, are the companions of his daily walks, 
and works, not more objects of curiosity or even of contemplation, 
indifferent or interesting, as he neglects or observes them, but ever 
active agents in the progress of production, co-laborers with him- 
self in the domain of Nature, performing the functions assigned to 
them, " in seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer 
and winter, and day and night," which we are told by Him who 
knoweth and ordaineth it, shall not cease lohile the earth reviainetk. 

The workshop of the farmer is not a narrow and heated room, 
shut out from light and air — but broad fields and an open sky are 
the witnesses of his labors ; and it is not mere inert matter that he 
deals with, calling into exertion his mechanical powers only, but 
one of the great kingdoms of living nature, furnishing subjects of 
ceaseless observation and wonder to the highest intellect, and for- 
ever inviting the researches of man, as well by the enlarged views 
it presents of great natural operations, as by the effect of this in- 
creased knowledge upon the heart and the understanding, and by 
the rewards, which are sure to follow the exertions of the enlight- 
ened cultivator. 

From the hyssop that springeth out of the wall, to the cedar of 
Lebanon, from the lowliest plant that creeps into life, to the giant 
of the forest that rears its head above a sea of vegetation, resist- 
ino- the winds of Heaven for centuries, there is a mighty mass of 
organized forms endowed with a principle of vitality, which pro- 
claim the power of God, and invite the researches of man. Won- 
drous are its extent, its variety, the laws of its being, the purposes 
it fulfils, the mode of its production, its existence and its repro- 
duction and the admirable organization by which its functions are 
to be performed, and inorganic matter converted into its beautiful 
foliage, which covers the face of the earth, rejoicing the eye and 
the heart, and ministering to the wants of sentient creation. And 
the life of the farmer passes in the midst of this great family of 
nature. It is his daily care to cultivate, to increase, to improve 
those branches of it which are the most necessary for human com- 
fort and subsistence ; and it should be his daily pleasure, as it is 
his duty, to observe the processes of vegetable life, the habits of 
plants, and the laws regulating their organization, that he may 
know how to make the earth bring forth by handfuls, like the se- 
ven plenteous years of Egypt, and still meliorate his practice, as 
he extends his knowledge. Who does not see, that here is scope 
enoucrh for the most powerful intellect, the most enlarged under- 
standing "! The practical study of the works of creation, admit- 
ting the application of advanced science, as well as the highest 



LIFE OF GENERAL CASS'. 41® 

powers of personal observation; and yet since the earliest pericri?, 
indeed, since the acorn gave place to wheat as the principal' ajrlfi- 
cle of subsistence, a delusion has been propagated, not univeisa] 
indeed, for there are honorable exceptions, both in ancient and 
in modern days, but far too general, and so firmly maintainec?, tloA 
even now it exerts a powerful influence, and is but slowly yieJd'iaj; 
to the intellectual progress which marks the age in which we life^ 

Of the personal traits of Gen. Cass' character, but few -n^n^ 
lieed be said. His benevolence, towards those upon jvhom tbe 
hand of misfortune has been heavily laid, is well known to tfjr^tt 
familiar with his private life. In times of public calamiiy, 71/msiM 
the ravages of war — when his fellow citizens were held 'mhtmyi- 
age by their Indian captors, his time, influence, and pUrse, were ^as- 
voted to their use. Many persons are still living whose lives werst 
saved and their release obtained, by his interposition. A maTscC 
great wealth, he lives unostentatiously, and there is no show ofws5>- 
usual splendor about his dwelling, to mark it as better than kiss 
neighbors. Affable and courteous to all, he wins the respespJ arasi 
friendship of those who approach him. 

His residence, in the city of Detroit, is a plain wooden bualii- 
ing, where, in the intervals of his Senatorial duty, he passes Ms- 
time, with his family, unambitious of any public station of i^islma- 
tion, except when called from his retirement by the general ^mxia- 
of his political friends, to assume the responsibilities of public oSie». . 

In personal appearance. Gen. Cass is decidedly imposirig. Bis 
person is large, robust and well filled but, presenting a little in®E» 
embonpoint, than at the period of his appointment as Minister 6i© 
France. He was then more active. His movements now jn^cali«'. 
something of the caution of age, without any of its weakness ©r 
uncertainty. In heighth, he is about five feet eight inches, perhaps 
a little more, the fullness of his person giving the impresBion -of a 
shorter man. His frame is well knit together, and indicates Si 
muscular power that has been developed by early exposure, fe 
watching his powerful step, now, the observer would read, wilinDiil 
surprize, the account of the incident elsewhere related, which oc- 
curred, nearly thirty years ago, at the Saut St. Marie, when hejiJ- 
vanced into the midst of a hostile camp of Indians, and tore dowsEL, 
with his own hands, the cross of St. George, and placed in its sAagS. 
the star spangled banner of liis country. He would feel certam.. 



i^U'^ LIFE Of GENERAL CASS. 

that the General would, under similar circumstances, do it again. 

Gen. Cass' face is full and expressive ; his forehead is lofty, 
while its great breadth and singular depth from brow to occiput, 
indicates power of intellect. His head is of the largest size, and 
the outlines classical, and no one, who meets him, can doubt he 
has encountered a deep thinker and a statesman. His brows are 
bushy and heavy ; his nose rather long, but elevated, full, rectili- 
near and classical ; his eyes are blue, and, when in repose, subdued 
in expression. Numerous busts and paintings have been made of 
Gen. Cass. It is believed that the finest marble is that by Jones, 
who has idealized the head sufficiently for the demands of art, 
without losing any of the essential detail to a likeness. A portrait 
of Gen. Cass, by Mr. Bradish, is said to be a most excellent like- 
ness and a superior work of art. It represents him in the act of 
addressing the Senate : one arm thrown behind him, in an attitude 
that wil] be recognized by all who are familiar with his manner of 
speaking. 

In closing this sketch, the writer would say, that in the scope of 
a single volume like this, it is not possible to do justice to the 
character and services of Gen. Cass, nor has he the vanity to think 
that, under any circumstances, could he be able to perform that 
duty. That must be reserved for an abler pen. To present suc- 
cinctly the main features of the public career of Gen. Cass, and to 
show, by extracts from his speeches and addresses, how earnestly 
he has labored for the good of his country, and how entirely free 
from sectional prejudice he is, as a statesman, has been all that 
the writer hoped to accomplish. 



THE END. 



BAp'3G 



